


Tales from the Over

by theycallmedean



Series: After the Tale [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Legs, MOSTLY LAUGHS, Maybe even a story arc, Maybe some drama, Might be posted as a different fic though, NYEH HEH HEH, Yes this is part of the UnderStuck canon, good feels, puns, sure there's Alphys/Undyne
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-15 01:05:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7199189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theycallmedean/pseuds/theycallmedean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set a few months after the events of UnderTale, Frisk and friends have begun their lives on the surface! Although not everything is the way they expected it all to be. Featuring skeletons learning to drive, turning flowers into goats, the end of the world, determination, and legs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Your best friend.

Flowey was bored.

He had been stuck down here in this pit, the entire Underground all to himself, for what seemed like months. It might very well have been. Usually he wouldn’t have minded the alone time, but with the underground completely EMPTY, it was just boring to be down here.

 _Why don’t I just leave?_ He thought. _I could just go up to the surface, no one would notice_ … Then again, he didn’t want to. In fact, he couldn’t. He wasn’t able to just burrow underground anymore, and was practically rooted ( _oh, that skeleton would have loved this joke._ ) to the ground.

All that he was really able to do in this spot was just sit and wait for something interesting to happen, which was practically never. Maybe if he had limbs again… That would feel so liberating. _No,_ he thought, _that’s never going to happen. I don’t have a soul, there’s no way Asriel’s coming back. Why’d I even get that thought in my head in the first place?_ He sighed, knowing that he might as well be stuck down here in this giant, empty cave as an emotionless flower for presumably forever. If he could actually feel anything right now, he’d probably cry. _Asriel would probably cry._ But he wasn’t Asriel. Not anymore.

He just wished that at least something, ANYTHING, would happen down here. He even wished that he’d actually get to see someone and talk to them. Hell, he wouldn’t even mind talking to Papyrus! Flowey began to wonder what the bonehead was doing up on the surface. Probably making spaghetti and thinking about puzzles, as usual. Then again, he might also be doing what he said to him one time, during one of his earlier RESETs. What was it again? Driving a sports car or whatever.

Flowey began to think about what else the other monsters might be doing. Sans, that lazy sack of crap, was probably doing… Well, Flowey had absolutely no clue, and didn’t really want to know in general. If anything, he wished that damn comic was too lazy to actually do anything. Maybe then Flowey would actually have done a full on genocide… But that was ages ago, and Flowey couldn’t RESET anymore. Either Frisk’s DETERMINATION was still overriding theirs, or they just… Simply couldn’t do it anymore. Maybe it had something to do with becoming his true self again.

He also began to think about how his par- Toriel and Asgore were doing. Toriel must have obviously adopted Frisk. _And the three of them might as well be living a gosh dandy happy life!_ Flowey chuckled at his own mocking, wondering if the King was still even King, and if Toriel actually forgave him. Probably so, after all, it probably wouldn’t have been long for her to realize that Sans didn’t have anything down at the Bone Zone. Flowey grinned, imagining the scene if the two had hooked up… Actually that would have been a bit disturbing. What would their kids even be like? Skeleton goat monsters? Eeh, Flowey decided to stop thinking about the two of them in general.

Alphys and Undyne were probably swapping spit regularly now, while watching some bad anime and eating ramen noodles… Egh, again, he didn’t want to think about stuff like that. Maybe Undyne would try to suplex something like one of those automobile things just to see if she could. And Frisk? Well… There were tons of ideas of what THEY were doing. Flowey never really got to know their actual gender. He just assumed they were a girl or something, might as well try to ask that question later. _Oh come on, as if that’s REALLY going to happen._ She probably would have started school, maybe she was some sort of ‘monster ambassador’ now, giving the world a better look on monsters, giving people mercy, all that trash. Flowey smiled at the thought, imagining her just at some sort of debate or whatever, and started flirting with the opponent. Or maybe she’d encounter some sort of criminal, and tried to talk them out of stealing whatever. Flowey chuckled at the thought, and then began to laugh.

Flowey kept laughing, and laughing, not sure why he found the idea of Frisk doing things on the surface so damn funny. He continued to howl with laughter, until he found that tears were starting to fall from his eyes. He realized that the tears weren’t of joy.

 _W-Wha… Why am I crying?_ He thought, _I don’t have a soul! I can’t feel SADNESS, let alone anything else! Why… Wait, if I don’t even have a soul, then…_ He began to ponder. He couldn’t have just GROWN one, right? That would be impossible. Maybe it’s just some dumb leftover feelings from when he had all those souls inside of him. That was defiantly the answer, yeah.

Then there was a sound he hadn’t heard in a VERY long time. Footsteps. He turned his head behind him, and saw none other than Frisk. She… Or he, whatever, was wearing their same stripped shirt, only this one looked brand new. They were also wearing hiking boots, and carried a backpack. She gave a warm smile, and waved to him.

“Oh, well look who came back?” Flowey said, a resentful grin on his face, “I guess you’ve finally decided to come over to give little old me some company? Huh? Because you CARE about everything, is that right?”

Frisk shook her head. “That’s pretty much it.” She sat down in front of him, crossing her legs.

Flowey continued to grin, his face twisting into a wicked smile. “I bet you’ve come down here to tell me you’re finally going to RESET, huh? Or maybe you’re just here to finish me off.”

Frisk, once again, shook her head. This time she was frowning. “I don’t want to hurt anybody, let alone you. I just want you to live a normal life with us!”

“Oh, as if I’d want to actually be with you idiots?” Flowey yelled. “because guess what? I don’t. And don’t you say you want me to ‘get out of this place and feel fresh sunlight, maybe even get to see your parents again, laugh again,’ because guess what? I’m not going to! Asriel would have, but…” He hesitated to finish his statement, frowning. “Why…?” He asked.

Frisk gave a patient smile. “Because I know you can be the person you’re supposed to be. Flowey, we can help you! We could think of a way to bring Asriel back, maybe Alphys could help! She says that using modern human technology has seriously expanded the possibilities of her inventions! Maybe we could… I don’t know, make a machine that could give you a SOUL.”

Flowey sighed, “You really are an idiot, you know that? Even if I COULD come with you, I can’t. I don’t know why, but being… Me again left be drained or something. I’m pretty much stuck here. You can try all you want, but you won’t be able to move me. But knowing you? You’re the DETERMINED type. You’re going to keep trying, and trying. And then you’re going to keep failing.” Flowey’s face contorted into a nightmarish grin. “And failing, and failing, and failing.”

Frisk frowned, reaching into her backpack. “Alright…” She sounded crestfallen. “I’m really sorry, but I’m doing this for your own good.” Out of her pack, she pulled out a gleaming, sharp gardening trowel.

Flowey gazed at the tool, realizing what the human was about to do. He laughed. “I knew it! I knew you always had it in you! Well go ahead then, do it! End me! Be the person that I knew you could have been! DO IT!”

Frisk brought the trowel into the air, and Flowey shut his eyes, awaiting the inevitable. It never came. Instead, Flowey opened his eyes to find that Frisk was only digging him up. “H-Hey!” he cried in protest, “what the hell are you doing?!”

Frisk scooped him out from the ground, using a free hand to reach for something else in the bag. “If you’re not able to get out of here yourself? I’m going to take you with me.” She then held out a clay pot, and placed Flowey within it. It felt all cramped and… Surprisingly cosy.

Flowey hissed in anger. “You can’t do this! This is kidnapping! I HAVE RIGHTS TO REMAIN HERE!”

Frisk just laughed a small bit, and began to walk off with him. “Why would you even want to stay down here anyway?”

Flowey murmured something along the lines of “to keep away from idiots like you…” as Frisk carried him along. After a bit of a long walk, they found themselves at the exit to the underground. Flowey gazed at the sun. It was… Beautiful… So bright, warm on his petals, colourful… If it wasn’t for the heavy discomfort in his eyes he would have gazed at it forever. And the air! It was the freshest he ever felt.

Frisk gazed outwards into the distance with him. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” she said, “so much bigger than the underground, filled with so many people...”

“People that would probably kill monsters AND each other for EXP,” Flowey butted in.

Frisk just frowned at him. “No one up here knows about EXP yet, at least, not EVERYONE. Besides, there’s been some new laws placed in. Monsters are to be treated just like anyone else, it’s only fair.”

Flowey groaned, looking back at the sun. “Do you really think people are going to follow that law, Frisk? A lot of people up here think that it’s either kill or be killed too. What makes you think there won’t be a bunch of other killers, grinding for free EXP until they start to murder their friends for free LOVE?”

“Because I’m going to make sure of that,” said Frisk, her voice firm and confident, “I want to see a world where no one has to suffer. Everyone, everywhere, can give mercy to one another. They just need to know how to give it more! And besides, you need to stay determined. Sure, there might be bad people in the world, but there’s also people who want to stop all of this. There’s as many people who want to save the world as much as there are who want everyone dead.” Frisk turned her gaze to Flowey. “Even you can be a good person. I’m going to make sure you go back to being that way, one way or another.”

“Alright, I get it,” said Flowey, “save the big inspirational talks for later… Actually speaking of later, how do you think everyone’s going to react to seeing me?”

Frisk shrugged. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell Mom and Dad that their son is now a homicidal flower,” _Mom and Dad? Are you serious?_ “Papyrus is sure going to be happy to see you again… Sans will… Uh, I don’t really know how he’ll react, but I’m pretty sure I can convince him that your worth keeping around.”

What happened next was unexpected to Flowey. He smiled. It wasn’t a hate smile, or an evil one, even a sarcastic one! It was an honest to god smile. Again, Flowey had no idea why he was smiling if he couldn’t feel happiness, but what Frisk had said to him, “Your worth keeping around,” made him… Actually relieved. He was relieved to be out of the underground, and with people! People who wanted to help him be himself again. Granted he HATED just about everyone there and would’ve just preferred to stay away from them, but… Who knows? Maybe things might turn out alright in the end.

“Frisk…” Flowey said, “don’t you have anything better to do?”

Frisk just smiled, and replied, “Not at all.” The two began their walk down the mountain.


	2. Detemmienation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeyo! Dean here, big thanks to the guys who like what I've wrote so far! This is a bit of a shorter chapter with some more adorbs and slight feels. More to come in the future! I even thought of several story arcs, though I'm not sure if I should make them chapters, or entirely new works. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

After what seemed like years, King Asgore was truly happy.

Thanks to the work of a young girl, the barrier on Mt Ebbot was destroyed, and all of Monsterkind, his people, was freed. Even the monsters appearing all over the world were free to do whatever they so wished. Due to all the sudden monsters, the world leaders were more than accepting of having Asgore be a political power. After all, someone needed to show true rulership over what the government classified as “sub-dimensional beings” anyway.

Asgore’s wife, Toriel, had finally forgave him for reaping the souls of the six humans that had fallen to the underground. Together, they had reformed their family along with the saviour of monsters, Frisk, who was more than happy to be taken in by the two. Asgore and Toriel, of course, were still in grief over the loss of their son Asriel. But who wouldn’t be? He was not only the heir to the throne of Monsterkind, but a son of true flesh and blood. _Well, not really blood,_ Asgore thought to himself, _monsters don’t have any of the inner workings of humans._ There was still so many things that the humans had done, and seeing them up in person, Asgore was taken back. The world was no longer the place he had remembered it to be.

“Hey Dad?” A small voice said to him, “You look a bit down. Are you alright?” Asgore looked down to Frisk, who was walking along with him while holding a small potted plant that seemed to be scowling. Frisk had brought Flowey to the surface about a week ago, and told both of her adoptive parents that she would take care of him as long as there was a way to bring him back to what he was before. Whatever that meant.

Asgore just smiled in reassurance, “Do not fret. I have just been thinking about events.”

Frisk nodded, and continued to trudge along with him. The three of them were walking back towards Mt Ebbot, to go back into the underground. The reason? There were reports of a group of monsters still down there, apparently not having noticed the barrier was removed. Who else other than the King and Ambassador of Monsters to inform them of their freedom?

Flowey began to groan. “This is idiotic you know,” he said, “those things we’re going back for are braindead! Do you really think it’s going to be a good idea to bring the Temmies up to the surface? What would they even do up here anyway?

Frisk looked down towards him, “Hey, I want all monsters to live free, alright? If a whole colony of them were still down there and had no idea that they could leave, imagine how tragic it would be!”

Asgore smiled at the child’s compassion, but Flowey just scowled. “Golly, well isn’t that lovely? We’re going to save a town of retards because the monster ambassador doesn’t want them to be all alone in a cave. I don’t even think they’ve noticed their imprisonment in the underground anyway!”

Frisk just huffed at the flower’s disrespect of a village with a very deep history, even though said history was very unclear. “It won’t be so bad, I promise,” She said, “besides, they’d be happier up here!”

“What do you even think they’d do? Vibrate all over people?” Flowey grinned sarcastically, “actually that’d make them pretty good massage therapists… Actually now that I think about it, how did these things even come into existence in the first place?”

Asgore had previously explained to Frisk that many monsters, despite most of them being born in a way similar to humans, came from the dreams of living beings, big and small. Frisk was taken back that humans and other creatures were responsible for the existence of monsters, but it made sense to her. Perhaps Toriel was born when someone dreamt of a bipedal goat mother? Asgore then frowned at Flowey’s question, not… Quite sure himself. “Well…” He began, “I suppose they came from… Surreal dreams perhaps? You know the ones, dreams that don’t seem to make sense no matter how hard you try to think about their meaning.”

“That, or they were made out of some drug high,” butted in Flowey.

Asgore and Frisk both rolled their eyes at the flower, and the three of them had made it to the entrance of the underground. They trudged through the empty streets of New Home, the mechanical structure of the Core, the sweltering heats of Hotland, before eventually coming to the serene tranquillity of Waterfall. There, they walked through a seemingly hidden path through a dark room, and wound up in none other than the Temmie Village.

A Temmie walked up to the three. “HOi! I’m TEMMIE,” it said, butchering every word it said, “And welcum too TEM ViLLAGE! YAYah!” It proceeded to vibrate intensely on the spot, its face looking like it might leave its body at any moment from vibrating too hard. Asgore never really knew much about these… Creatures, but they were still his people and deserved freedom.

Frisk was the first to speak. “Uh, hello there!” she said, “we just wanted to inform you that the barrier was broken a few months ago, and that you’re all free to head on to the surface! If you want, we can escort you all and- “

Frisk was suddenly cut off by a random Temmie. “UHehmGEE!” it said, “Hooman is bakc! So CYUUTE!” Suddenly, a swarm of Temmies ran towards Frisk, more than any of them really accounted for.

“Oh my fu- !” Said Flowey, before he was cut off by the Temmies, practically burying him and Frisk in a pile of vibrating fur and blue shirts. Asgore sighed, nodding to the only Temmie that didn’t pile up on the child. He knew Frisk and Flowey would be fine, Temmies weren’t all that dangerous anyway.

“Hello there,” he said to the Temmie, “Temmie, I do believe?”

“Actually my name is Bob,” the Temmie said, having a surprisingly accurate way of speech. “You must excuse my colleagues, they are incredibly excitable around humans, or really anything they haven’t seen before.”

Suddenly, Frisk got an idea. She poked her head out of the pile of Temmies, spitting out a bit of fur. “Hey, guys!” she yelled, “we know where there’s millions of cute humans for you to be around!”

Suddenly, all the Temmies that had covered Frisk and Flowey got off the two, with the latter gasping for breath. One of them spoke. “Moar cyuute Hoomans?” they asked.

Asgore nodded, knowing what Frisk was doing. “Yes! There’s pleanty of humans where we’re about to go!” he informed, “would you like to come with us?”

The Temmies just vibrated harder, all nodding with eachother. “Yee! Hyoomans CYUUTE!” “Temmie so happies!” “Tem CAn sell MaNs Tem FlAKES!”

Frisk and Asgore walked off, the Temmies following them. Eventually after a long walk, they reached the exit to the underground.  The Temmies wasted no time in running down towards the city of Ebbot in the distance, all yelling in joy.

Asgore simply just watched them run off into the distance, feeling… Proud of himself, he supposed. He wasn’t very sure how humans would see the Temmies, but perhaps things will work out. The humans did get along well enough with the rest of Monsterkind anyway.

“Well golly gee, you’re going to subject humanity to those things. I can’t think of a crueller punishment!” said Flowey, causing Frisk to look towards him, frowning a little.

“Freedom isn’t a punishment you know,” she said, “it’s great they’re going to go free, able to do whatever they’d all want to do!”

“And what DO they want to do?” Said Flowey.

Frisk thought for a moment, and frowned. “I actually don’t know. But I bet it’s something! Maybe they’ll all get to go to cooleg.” She then smiled, while Flowey was confused about what she meant about ‘cooleg.’

Asgore, on the other hand, felt lucky to just be out on the surface, once again gazing towards the city and mountains further away. He, like many monsters, had not seen the sun in many years. Some have never even seen it with their very eyes in their lives. He smiled, feeling its warmth and light, thinking about how much Asriel would have loved to be up here again. He didn’t even know he was starting to cry before Frisk asked if he was okay.

“Oh. Yes, I’m… I’m quite fine,” he said, wiping away any tears starting to form, “just thinking about events of the past, like before.”

Frisk just smiled, and went back to explaining Cooleg to Flowey, who was growing more confused each passing minute.


	3. Skeleton driver

Papyrus was excited.

He always got excited about at least one thing or another, like finding out all the board games and puzzles on the surface, seeing the sun for the first time, discovering the pasta isle at the supermarket, and even managing to get a job at a police station. Though that job was pretty much just re-supplying the break room with doughnuts and coffee at the moment. Still, Papyrus was excited for that either way. _WE MUST MAKE SURE THE FELLOW PROTECTERS OF THE SURFACE ARE WELL NOURISHED AND READY TO FIGHT CRIME AND HOOLIGANS! IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT POSITION THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HONORED TO DO SO!_

This time however, was a different time. Papyrus was finally going to accomplish his lifelong dream should he have ever managed to make it to the surface. And thanks to Frisk, that dream has been accomplished. Papyrus was going to get his licence.

He, of course, had to walk over to the place that was known as the DMV. Papyrus wasn’t sure what that meant, but Sans had told him that it was a place where humans got their licences so they can drive. It turns out on the surface you needed proper identification for things like going to certain buildings, _SANS REALLY DIDN’T WANT ME GOING INTO THAT ONE BUILDING WITH ALL THE WOMEN THAT ONE TIME_ , be served some kinds of drink, board a plane, and most importantly? Drive.

* “so you’re sure you know how to operate a car?” said Sans, who was walking along with Papyrus. Of course he’d want to be there for his Bro when he gets a car. Of course, Sans had got a licence a month ago, and was the owner of a fine Moped. Papyrus on the other hand had no idea where Sans got the money for buying one, Sans simply replying about selling hot dogs, and then making a joke about them.

“OF COURSE I KNOW!” Papyrus responded, “HONESTLY IT SHOULD BE JUST LIKE A BIG PUZZLE, WITH ALL THE WHEELS AND PEDALS IN THE CAR LETTING YOU TRAVERSE THE MAZE THAT IS A ROAD!” Papyrus grinned, which was a bit hard to notice due to his lack of lips. “AFTER ALL,” he continued, “IF DRIVING IS LIKE A BIG PUZZLE, THEN SURELY IT SHALL BE SOLVED BY NONE OTHER THAN PUZZLE EXTRAORDINARE, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

Sans shrugged. * “alright bro,” he said, * “just make sure the care doesn’t get too tired of you.”

“HONESTLY SANS, IS NOW REALLY THE TIME FOR JOKES?”

* “yep, unless you think i’m actually going to exhaust my jokes at any time now.”

Papyrus groaned, and then groaned louder when he realized the car pun Sans snuck in to his sentence. Eventually, the two walked in to the DMV. Papyrus was astounded by how many humans were lining up for their licences too! That or something else. Papyrus didn’t exactly know. “WOWIE! THERE MUST BE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HERE! SURELY THEY MUST ADORE DRIVING AS MUCH AS I DO!”

* “nah bro,” said Sans, * “they’re just waiting for stuff like getting their licence renewed and all that. if you ask me? this place will drive you insane.”

“UGH. I’M GOING TO WAIT IN LINE NOW,”, Papyrus said, walking up towards the line of humans. “EXCUSE ME THERE, HUMAN?” he asked to the man in front of him, who looked at him in annoyance, “ARE YOU AWARE OF HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE FOR THE LINE TO PASS?”

“No freaking clue man,” said the man, “I’ve been waiting in this exact spot, for over twenty minutes now. For all I know? We’re going to be stuck here forever.”

Papyrus laughed. “NYEH-HEH! AHH, THAT’S QUITE A JOKE. SURELY ONE WITH SUCH A SENSE OF HUMOR MUST BE MEANING THAT THIS LINE SHOULD SHRINK IN NO TIME AT ALL!”

Seven hours later…

Papyrus was still waiting, humming a tune to himself. He looked around, almost at the front of the line! Behind him were more impatient looking humans, and Sans, who was sitting on a chair and sleeping. Finally, the receptionist called “next!” and Papyrus moved up to the front.

“EXCUSE ME HUMAN LADY,” he said, making sure to act as nice as possible, “I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE BUILDERS OF THIS BUILDING FOR MAKING IT SO LARGE, IT GIVES ALL THE LINES OF HUMANS PLEANTY OF ROOM FOR- “

“Are you going to get your licence or what?” the receptionist asked.

“OH, OF COURSE!” said Papyrus, starting to get excited, “DO I NEED TO TAKE THE TEST NOW?”

The receptionist sighed, and pointed towards another line, “that’s the line for Monster drivers, sorry but you’re going to have to wait in line there.” The line was as big as the one Papyrus was waiting in, and had several monsters from the underground. A couple of Aarons, a Woshua, and some Vulkins, even a couple more that Papyrus didn’t exactly recognise seemed to be waiting a bit impatiently.

“OH,” said Papyrus, “VERY WELL THEN! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BEST THIS LINE! NO LINE OF PEOPLE HAS EVER DONE SO BEFORE, AND THIS WON’T BE THE FIRST, EITHER! NYEH-HEH-HEH!” Papyrus then did a somersault over to the end of the monster line, impressing just about every human in the room. _SURELY THIS SHOULD BE SHORTER THAN THE OTHER LINE_ , he thought to himself.

Five hours later…

Papyrus was tapping his foot, finally in the front of the line! “HELLO THERE!” he said to the other receptionist, this one being a man, “I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THE TEST THAT LETS PEOPLE DRIVE NOW.”

The receptionist sighed. “Right this way,” he said, leading Papyrus outside. Papyrus walked out to a man holding a clipboard standing next to a red car.

“Hello there Mr…” the driver’s instructor looked down at his clipboard. No last name… Typical for monsters. “… Papyrus, I will be your instructor for today.” The two got into the car, Papyrus getting into the driver’s seat. “Alright, first, I need you to back up, and drive down the road.”

“OKAY!” said Papyrus, reversing at stupidly fast speeds, and then breaking before he could hit something. The driver did NOT look pleased. In fact, he looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. “WOOPS. LET ME JUST… UH…” Papyrus gazed at the controls of the car. “OH! HERE WE GO!” he said, as he sped out onto the road.

The next few seconds were filled with what seemed like excitement, but in reality, they were pretty damn terrifying. Papyrus was practically speeding, somehow managing to avoid all the cars he passed, too! Strangely enough he still followed the road rules while screaming along with the instructor. He used his indicator, he gave way for other cars, he stopped at red lights, he was actually a pretty good driver! If it wasn’t for the fact that he was driving at speeds that even a professional racer would find questionable.

Papyrus was actually starting to feel a bit more confident with his driving skills, before eventually coming up to a raising bridge. Shutting his eye sockets in anticipation, he opened them after a sudden feeling of weightlessness, and then a jolt. His car had jumped over the bridge, while it was being raised. The driver just looked white as a sheet. “I… I think we s-s-should go back to the… The place, yeah…” he said.

Papyrus drove back to the DMV, still speeding like a maniac. He sped towards the park, and braked, the car skidding to a halt in the parking space, leading to a perfect parking. Papyrus would be gasping for breath right now, if he had lungs. “WELL…” he said, “HOW DID I DO?”

The instructor looked at him, a look of fear and astonishment on his face. “U-Uhh… You always went over the speed limit, almost crashed into people AND risked our lives. But you did follow all the… The road rules, and… Well, that’s… What’s important! Yeah…” He did not wish to take another driving lesion with this skeleton. “So… YOU PASS! Yaaay…”

Papyrus gasped in amazement. “REALLY?! WOWIE! EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE SO PROUD OF ME!” Papyrus ran out of the car, Nyeh-heh-ing all the way back to the building. He then ran back to the instructor. “UH… WHERE DO I GO TO TELL THE PEOPLE I PASSED THE TEST?”

“Well… You have to line up for the verification,” said the instructor.

“OH,” said Papyrus, “OH WELL, HOW BAD COULD MORE WAITING BE?”

8 hours later…

Papyrus ran back to his house, kicking open the door to Sans’ bedroom. “SANS!” he said, holding up his new licence in pride, “I DID IT! I PASSED THE TEST!”

* “that’s great bro. but it’s pretty much midnight,” mumbled Sans.

“GAH, YOU’RE SUCH A LAZYBONES,” said Papyrus, “I’M GOING TO CALL UNDYNE AND TELL HER ABOUT THIS!” He pulled out his cell phone, and began to dial.

* “pap, you probably shouldn’t do that,” said Sans.

Papyrus eventually managed to call her. “HEY UNDYNE!” he said, “I DID IT! I FINALLY GOT MY DRIVER’S LICENCE! UH HUH… OKAY THEN! I’LL CALL YOU LATER.” He hung up. “SHE TOLD ME THAT I DID A GOOD JOB, AND I SHOULD SHUT UP NOW BECAUSE IT’S THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!”

* “yeah that’s kinda what i thought would happen,” said Sans, “you should probably get to bed too, after today you must be pretty tired.”

Papyrus groaned, “ALRIGHT THEN.” He began to leave the room, and then stuck his head back in. “UM… HEY SANS?” he asked, “COULD YOU JUST READ ME A QUICK BEDTIME STORY FIRST?”

Sans just smiled, and got out of bed. * “sure bro.”


	4. Flowey's Tale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! Dean here. Here's a chapter which is essentially the prologue to the Flowey Arc! What began as a bit of a short chapter eventually became this thing, and it honestly surprised me. Anyway I'll just post this and go, because it is late as heck at the time of writing this. See yah!

School had finally ended for the day.

Frisk walked out of the school grounds, her back pack in tow, and making sure to walk over to the pot on the windowsill of the tool shed. Why anyone put one of those on a tool shed was beyond her. She picked up the pot, and the frowning sociopath flower in said pot. Flowey sighed, looking a bit more bored than usual.

“Flowey?” Frisk asked, “Are you alright?”

Flowey rolled his eyes, and turned his head to look at his holder. “What do you think?” he replied, “Every day you take me down here because Mo- … TORIEL doesn’t like it when you leave me alone in the house. Do you realize that I literally have nothing to do out here?”

Frisk shrugged. “Well what do you do when I’m in school anyway?”

The flower just sagged, looking even more bored and annoyed. “Wait for you to come back.”

Frisk grinned, realizing what was happening to Flowey. “So,” she asked, “does this mean you’re actually beginning to want to spend time with me?”

“What?!” Flowey scowled, facing Frisk again. “Why the hell would I even want to do that? The only reason I actually wait for you is because I hate being stuck out here, baking in the sun!”

“I thought flowers like the sun?” said Frisk.

Flowey then looked like he was thinking of something else to say. “Well… It gets really hot because of it!”

“It’s almost winter.”

“Hey, you get what I mean!” Flowey was scowling even harder, practically glaring at the human in frustration. “Jeez, how would you like to be a soulless flower, anyway?”

Frisk thought of an answer for a few seconds. “Well, I wouldn’t try to murder people, for one,” she answered.

“Hey, that was during the later resets,” said Flowey, “And besides, I didn’t… Exactly try to murder everyone at the start…”

Frisk stopped walking, looking at him with a puzzled expression. “You didn’t?”

Flowey sarcastically smiled at her. “Yep, believe it or not, I actually made friends with just about everyone in the underground on some of my early resets.”

“What else did you do?” Asked frisk.

Flowey just sighed, “You really want to know, don’t you? Sheesh, do you really have nothing better to do?”

Frisk just shook their head, their hair swaying along with the rest of her head.

Flowey was quiet for a few seconds, and then spoke, “Alright then, might wanna take a seat about now.”

Frisk just sat on a bench next to the two, setting Flowey down opposite of her on the bench.

“Alright,” said Flowey, “I guess you kinda know about how I came into existence a while ago, right?”

Frisk nodded, “Alphys created you by accident, right?”

“Well, sounds like someone’s been remembering their history lessons.” jeered Flowey, “Yeah, I was created by mistake, a plant filled with DETERMINATION and Asriel’s dust. I guess whatever crazy shi- Ugh, stuff DETERMINATION can do pretty much brought the flower to life, and then Asriel’s memories were infused in it. Not going to lie… It felt like I just woke up from some kind of nightmare, like… Just utter darkness, silence, and emptiness, and I couldn’t even feel my body. When I woke up, I realized I still couldn’t, and then it turns out I was a flower! Heh… Golly that was a while ago.”

Frisk thought of another question. “How old exactly are you, anyway?” she asked.

Flowey shrugged. “I don’t know, I have no idea how long I was dead for, or how long time passed during each reset. For all I know I could be several… I dunno, decades old?”

Frisk stared at Flowey in shocked silence.

“Yeah I know,” continued Flowey after seeing Frisk’s face, _Hehehe…_ _I’m never going to forget that expression,_ “Trust me when I say this Frisk, I made a LOT of resets. I might as well even tell you about my first one.”

Flowey continued his story, looking slightly sadder as he continued, “well, I then saw Asgore, and told him what happened. He was so happy to see me again! But… Well, I didn’t feel a thing. I spent weeks with that old fool just to feel something, a spark of happiness, joy, hell I would have gone for sorrow! Then I realized… If I couldn’t feel anything, any emotion at all, why even bother to keep going? So… I took Asgore’s old dagger, y’know, the one he uses to cut out weeds? And then…”

“Hey… Uh, you don’t need to talk about that part,” said Frisk, who had cut in before Flowey finished their sentence. She looked a bit sad herself, and mostly uncomfortable. Death in any case made her feel that way.

Flowey sighed at the human. “Alright fine, you’d already know what would have happened anyway.” he said, “So there I was, lying there and withering away, then I had this thought. Pretty much everyone, humans, even monsters, believed there were places we go to when our souls or bodies die. I didn’t even have a soul, and I was only a plant! So that pretty much meant…”

“You’d be stuck in that weird limbo again,” said Frisk, finishing for Flowey

Flowey frowned, “pretty much, yeah. Then, I decided that I really, REALLY didn’t want to die yet, and there I was, in utter, pitch black. But this time? There was a light. And there I saw it, the SAVE SCREEN.”

Frisk nodded, knowing perfectly what Flowey was talking about. She had made her fair share of LOADs along her journey through the Underground herself.

Flowey continued with his story, “Anyway, I realized I had the power to LOAD back to where I first woke up in the throne room… I guess all the DETERMINATION that brought me to life was still swirling around my body, and it gave me the power to RESET. So then I tried seeing what I could do. I could do just about anything I could ever dream of doing, without punishment! I’d just LOAD back to my SAVE point, and start all over again!”

“And that’s when you realized you could kill and get away with it?” Asked Frisk, looking a bit disappointed with Flowey. _Ah, what is she going to do anyway? Spray me with a squirt bottle for time travel murder?_

Flowey smiled at his previous thought. “Believe it or not, no,” he said, “I actually tried making friends with everyone! Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, just about everyone in the underground. Then I started seeing what would happen if I acted a certain way. After all those RESETS, I found out that everyone started to get predictable. I ran out of friends to make, choices to make, games to win and lose…”

“The underground is a pretty small place, I guess,” said Frisk.

Flowey nodded, “Exactly! It was a small world, I had pretty much done everything that world had to offer. Then I started to consider the one thing I DIDN’T try before. What if I tried killing people?”

Frisk just frowned at Flowey, “so you went full on genocide eventually…” They looked rather saddened.

Flowey gazed at Frisk’s sad expression in a mixture of sadistic pleasure and… Guilt? Since when did he feel guilty? “Well… Yeah, pretty much. Hell, I even managed to come close to getting the human SOULs a couple of times.”

“Hang on, what?” Frisk asked in confusion, “if you were almost about to absorb them all, why didn’t you?”

Flowey scowled, remembering. “You probably aren’t going to believe this, but that freaking comedian kept… Stopping me. Every time I was practically **inches** away from the SOULs, he’d just pull me out of the ground, and… Well… Let’s just say he made me LOAD more than I usually do.”

Frisk wasn’t really sure how to react. All this time before she fell down, Sans was the one preventing Flowey from murdering everyone in the underground?  She’d always known that the skeleton knew far more than he ever seemed to let on to, but…

“Judging by that look on your face, I bet you’re surprised too huh?” Flowey asked, “Well so was I… Anyway, then one time I found something new… You fell down. Not just that, your DETERMINATION is so damn strong that it’s practically, and still is, overriding mine! So then I got the plan to get you to fight Asgore, destracting him while I got the souls, and then when you left the Underground? Well… Remember what I told you after you left?”

“Yeah,” replied Frisk, “I still wasn’t sure how you even did that, anyway! Were you in my dream or something?”

“Ehh… Let’s not… Go into too much detail,” said an equally confused Flowey, “but yeah. I influenced you into freeing those Amalgamates, and with them adding up to every monster in the underground, I…” Flowey cut himself off, frowning. “You know what happened next.”

Frisk gave a reassuring smile, and stood, picking up Flowey. “Don’t worry,” he said, “we’re going to find a way to bring you back. Just wait a little longer, Asriel.” She then proceeded to hug the flower pot.

Flowey squirmed, wishing he could still move now. “H-Hey! I told you not to call me that name,” he said, “and… I… Well…” He stopped himself, just falling quiet.

Frisk broke the hug. “We should probably get back home about now,” she said. She began to run off down the path, holding the pot close to her chest. Flowey was deep in thought, wondering about what Frisk said about her and all her friends trying to fix him. Knowing her, she wouldn’t give up, she was just too damn determined. Flowey smiled at the thought that she’d keep trying, even if she failed a thousand times.

He then spent the next few seconds wondering how he was smiling at all.


	5. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of the Flowey Arc.

Undyne heard a knock at her door.

She got up from her card game with her girlfriend Alphys, and best friends Sans and Papyrus, walking towards the door and opening it. She was greeted to the faces of Toriel and Frisk. Frisk was holding a flower pot containing a very grumpy looking Flowey.

“Good morning, Undyne,” said Toriel, in her usual motherly tone of voice, “I’m sorry to approach you at this time, but I have a favour that I’d like you to do for us.”

Undyne grinned in response, “Alright, sure,” she said, “what’s the favour?”

Frisk held out the flower pot, Flowey’s expression still not changing. “We need you guys to look after Flowey for the day,” the human said.

Undyne’s smile disappeared. “Wait what?”

Toriel sighed. “You see,” she replied, “Frisk is no longer able to bring Flowey with her to school, on account of what happened yesterday…” She gave a small glare to Flowey, the plant glaring back at her.

“Jeez… Well what did the punk even do?” Undyne asked.

Frisk began to explain.

========================================================================================

Yesterday…

“Okay everyone!” said Frisk’s teacher, “today is show and tell day. First up is Frisk... Dreamer.”

Frisk walked up, holding Flowey’s pot, the plant having a look of extreme apathy. Out of all days, this was not a day Flowey considered suitable. He wasn’t some object to show off to people! Frisk told him earlier that she was only doing this because no one else had seen a talking flower, and that this might be a chance to ‘make friends with people,’ as if that was ever gonna happen.

“It’s actually pronounced Dreemur,” Frisk told the teacher as she approached the front of the class. “This is Flowey,” she began, “Flowey the Flower! He’s a talking flower that I brought from underground Mt Ebbot. I brought him up with us because I didn’t want him getting lonely, and even though he had several malicious intents, I believe that everyone can be a good person if they try! Flowey is no exception- “

Before Frisk finished her sentence, Flowey cut in. “There is no god you know,” he said, “We don’t exist for a reason, half of you are probably going to have terrible, depressing lives, we’re all going to have our dreams crushed one way or another, and we’re all going to die one day.”

The class gave Flowey a disturbed look, and Frisk’s hand met her face, realizing that this was a bad idea. “What?” Flowey said, “I’m only telling the truth you know. Hell, I bet your teacher is divorced right about now.”

========================================================================================

“I have no regrets,” smiled Flowey, the other three frowning at him.

Undyne sighed, “Alright fine… I’ll take the punk. But you owe me for this!” She took the flower pot, Flowey having gone back to looking grumpy.

Toriel smiled. “Thank you Undyne,” she said, “and do not fret, this is only for today. I’ll see if we can sort something out with Frisk’s teachers.” And with that, the two walked off, Undyne closing the door.

Undyne frowned, and looked at the flower. He was grinning at her. “Nice place you got here,” he said, “roomy house, I bet you must be living a great life up on the surface!”

Undyne was taken back a bit from Flowey’s comment. “… Are you complementing me?” she asked.

Flowey smiled more, “Of course I am!” he said, “after all, if I were you, I’d be pretty happy swapping spit with that fat nerd that you call your girlfriend here.” Flowey’s smile became wicked and mischievous, while Undyne looked unamused.

She slammed the pot over at the table where the three other monsters had continued their card game, making even Flowey jolt. “Alright, there is no way I’m going to take care of this little photosynthesizing asshat. One of you guys gotta take him off me.”

Everyone just gazed at Undyne, except for Papyrus, who actually looked happy.

* “nope,” said Sans.

Alphys began to stammer, “W-Well… I… Uhhh… He’s kinda… Well, Y’know?”

“OF COURSE I’LL TAKE HIM!” Beamed Papyrus, pulling the pot towards him and giving it a hug, “IT WILL BE JUST LIKE OLD TIMES, RIGHT FLOWEY?”

Flowey gazed at Undyne, with a look that said “help me,” and also “I will kill you in your sleep,” at the same time. Undyne just grinned in victory.

 

After a few hours of time spent with Papyrus, _I don’t even want to spend more than a minute with these guys,_ Flowey was riding with him in his brand new sports car. Papyrus had thankfully learnt how to properly obey speed limits, and was driving like a person who had been doing so for several years. Flowey still looked grumpy, although in reality… It was due to something on his mind. Papyrus took notice of this, and then went back to looking at the road.

“HEY FLOWEY? WHY THE SAD FACE? OR DO YOU NOT REALLY CALL THAT A FACE? I DON’T REALLY GET FLOWERS,” he said.

Flowey sighed, “I dunno. I’m just… Thinking about stuff, alright? It’s personal.”

Papyrus pulled up to the driveway of Alphys and Undyne’s place, then turned back to him. “WELL OKAY THEN! I SHALL RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY. BUT IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CAN DO, YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL ME!”

Flowey groaned at the skeleton. Didn’t the guy have some kind of volume dial? “… Alright, sure. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Papyrus began to listen to the flower closely. Flowey really wished he could move again, because this was kind of invading his personal boundaries.

“Alright… You already know I don’t have a soul, right Papyrus?”

“OF COURSE!” he said, “ALPHYS TOLD ME THAT SHE CREATED YOU WITHOUT REALIZING IT BECAUSE OF… WELL I FORGET THE DETAILS, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE A SOUL BECAUSE YOU’RE A PLANT, RIGHT?”

Flowey nodded. “Yeah, that’s basically it. There’s… Also a bit more to that. Because I don’t have a soul, I can’t feel… Anything! Even the smallest amount of emotion, none of that.”

“WAS THAT WHY YOU TRIED TO KILL EVERYONE AND BECOME A MURDEROUS GOD?” Papyrus asked.

Flowey was taken back at the question. “W-What?! How do you know about that?”

“OH, SANS TOLD ME.”

Flowey Rolled his eyes. “Of course… But… Yeah. The reason I’m telling you this is because, to be honest? I… Kind of had a good time today with you Papyrus.”

“WOWIE! I KNEW THAT SPENDING TIME WITH SUCH A COOL DUDE WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY, FLOWEY! WAIT… WAS THAT ALSO SOME KIND OF SUGGESTIVE COMPLEMENT?” Papyrus asked.

“What?!” gasped Flowey, “Dude, no! This isn’t that kind of confession!” He sighed. “What I mean, is that I actually felt happiness spending time with you, alright?”

“OH. WELL, OF COURSE! ANYONE WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE THEIR DAY BRIGHTENED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” Papyrus Nyeh’d in satisfaction.

Flowey looked at Papyrus in agitation. “No, look… I, 100%, CAN’T feel emotion, remember? But somehow lately I’ve been actually starting to feel certain ways about stuff and I just have no idea why! And… Well, I’ve been thinking. If I really am starting to feel again, then maybe…” Flowey sighed, thinking what he was about to say next would be his worst idea in the history of his life. “Maybe I could tell people the truth.”

Papyrus seemed confused. “THE TRUTH?” he asked, “DO YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF SECRET YOU’VE BEEN WANTING TO TELL?”

Flowey nodded. “You could say that…” A look of deep thought appeared on his face, and he was silent for the next few seconds. He then took a breath. “Papyrus?” he said, “I think I should start telling you and your friends about who I really am.”

 

Papyrus burst into the room, startling no one other than Alphys. “EVERYONE? I HAVE SOME VERY IMPORTANT NEWS.”

* “is all pasta half price at the store again?” asked Sans.

“WHAT? NO. IT’S MORE IMPORTANT THAN SPAGHETTI, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT I NEVER THOUGHT THAT I WOULD SAY!” Papyrus replied. He placed Flowey’s pot down on the table. “IF YOU WOULD PLEASE GATHER AROUND, FLOWEY HAS SOME… RATHER IMPORTANT NEWS.” Papyrus actually seemed pretty serious about the last part.

Sans, Undyne, and Alphys sat down at the table, looking at the flower in anticipation. “Well?” Undyne said, “What’s the news? Or is this one of your dumbass jokes? Because so help me, I will-!”

“U-Undyne, maybe we should… Actually listen to what he has to say…” Said Alphys, making sure Undyne didn’t do something everyone would regret, like lighting the house on fire. Believe it or not that almost happened one time.

Undyne huffed, and relaxed, still glaring at Flowey.

Sans just shrugged, * “alright, i’m up for hearing what the guy’s got to tell. i’ve got a whole lot of nothing to do today anyway.”

“YOU ALWAYS DO NOTHING!” said Papyrus.

Sans grinned, * “i know, and i make sure i put all my effort into it.”

Papyrus just groaned. “WHATEVER SANS, FLOWEY, YOU CAN TELL US WHAT YOU WANTED TO SAY NOW.”

Flowey looked a bit nervous. What would they even say? Would they tell everyone else? Would they treat him like some kind of…? No, he didn’t want to think about that. He was going to tell them. That was final. He cleared his metaphorical throat, and began to speak.

“Okay… You guys know about what happened to Prince Asriel, right?”

 

Flowey explained everything to them. Asriel’s death, Alphys bringing them back as Flowey, them learning to RESET, making friends with everyone, killing everyone, trying to take everyone’s SOULs, and eventually turning back into Asirel for a short time and breaking the barrier. He didn’t really mention being able to feel again, mostly because he was uncomfortable with the idea of Alphys running tests on him. Once he finished, he noticed that he had begun to cry at the end of his story. He rubbed his head against the edge of his pot.

After his story, everyone in the room just gazed at him in awe. Sans’ didn’t look like he was smiling at all, Papyrus was frowning from having to hear the sad story again, Undyne looked towards Flowey in disbelief and shock, and Alphys looked like she was on the verge of tears.

* “Oh my god…” said Sans, “I’ve been wailing on Toriel’s kid all that time... Well… I guess this makes you a Son-flower, huh?” he smiled, trying to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room.

Undyne couldn’t really think of anything to say. Instead, she said only one phrase. “Damn, that’s rough.”

Alphys was freaking out though. “O-oh my god oh my god…” She murmured. Alphys began to speak very quickly, tears forming in her eyes. “I don’t know if I should be happy that I brought the prince back or horrified that I brought him back as a plant and Toriel’s probably gonna kill me because of it I mean she wasn’t all that fond of me for the Amalgams and now I think she’s actually gonna try to kill me and- “

Flowey groaned loudly, cutting off Alphys’ rant. “Will you please just shut it? Look, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but everyone in this room should be thanking you.”

Alphys looked at him in confusion. “W-What?”

* “the guy's got a point, y'know,” said Sans, * “think about it. if flowey wasn’t created asriel wouldn’t have come back to grab everyone’s soul and break the barrier. alphys unwillingly brought back the guy who’d free everyone.”

“O-Oh… Well, uh…” Alphys smiled, actually feeling like she did something good for once.

Undyne simply hugged the yellow lizard, giving a big grin. “Damn, Al, you gotta tell me when you’re gonna resurrect the dead, that’s freaking awesome!”

“W-Well, technically, I actually…” Alphys began to go on about the nature of her DETERMINATION vessel experiments, while Flowey looked to Sans and Papyrus.

“SO,” began Papyrus, “DO YOU FEEL GOOD ABOUT TELLING EVERYONE, FLOWEY?”

If Flowey had shoulders, he would have shrugged. “I guess…”

* “not exactly everyone, y’know,” said Sans, * “you haven’t told your parents yet.”

Flowey frowned, looking down at his dirt. “I know,” he replied.

He then took a breath, ignored the voice in his head that kept yelling THIS IS STUPID over and over, and faced the two skeletons. “… But I think I’m ready to tell them now.


	6. Sort of Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of the Flowey Arc

Frisk carried Flowey back into her room, and set him down on the windowsill.

The flower had been looking deep in thought ever since he was retrieved from Undyne and Alphys’ house. From the way everyone was looking at him, Frisk could only guess that Flowey finally told them the truth. Normally she would be pretty happy that Flowey was ready to tell people about his past, but right about now Flowey looked sort of depressed.

“Hey,” Frisk quietly said, “you told them, right? Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys...”

The flower nodded. “Yeah, I did,” he said, “I guess I felt… Kinda good doing it? It wasn’t really easy though. I had to spend a whole day with Papyrus to finally open up.”

Frisk thought for a few seconds. “Well, everyone seemed pretty accepting, right?”

Flowey turned to Frisk. “That’s pretty much what happened, yeah. Sans just made a pun, Undyne didn’t really say anything, and Alphys? Oh my god, she was freaking out!” Flowey smiled at the thought.

Frisk just frowned at him. “Well hey, if they were okay with finding out you used to be the prince of all monsters, I bet your parents will be okay with finding out that you’re their son!”

Flowey scowled. “Look, I’d probably just make them feel worse about me, alright? It’s one thing to think your kid is dead and it’s another thing to realize their not dead, but is an emotionless flower who abused time travel to kill everyone multiple times!”

“Not exactly emotionless anymore though,” smiled Frisk. “Maybe once they realize who you really are, that’ll just make them happier to see you again when we bring Asriel back!”

“IF we can bring me back…” sulked Flowey. “Look, just because I’m starting to get emotions back doesn’t mean I have a SOUL, if I did, well golly! I’d be a bipedal goat again! But I’m still a flower!”

“Then why can you feel stuff like happiness again?” asked Frisk.

“I don’t know!” Flowey yelled in a mixture of annoyance and sadness. He then drooped, looking down at his pot. “Do you think they’re even going to look at me the same? I… I kid so much that I regret now, and I hate that I can regret it too! And what if they hate me if they found out what I did, and…”

“Well then don’t tell them,” said Frisk, “just say… I dunno, ‘oh hi Toriel, I’m actually your resurrected son! Can you go tell Asgore so we can reunite and hug it out?’”

Flowey frowned, “Okay, that is not what I sound like, that sounded stupid, and how am I even supposed to hug if I DON’T HAVE ARMS?!”

“Like this.” Frisk then picked up Flowey’s pot, and wrapped her arms around it, holding it to her chest closely.

Flowey groaned, powerless to break out of the human’s grip. He just waited it out, and ignored the little voice in his head telling him that this felt nice. Eventually Frisk let go of the pot, putting it back on the sill.

Flowey sighed. “… Okay, fine. I’ll go do it. I don’t know what’ll happen, but… Alright, y’know what if this DOES end up being a bad idea? Frisk? I’d like you to LOAD.”

Frisk was sort of taken back. “Uhh… I kinda said I wouldn’t really do that stuff anymore. I could take away everyone’s happy ending easier than I gave it to them, so…”

“Alright, I get it, no RESETs or LOADs. Just wanted to see if I could take multiple shots at it, no big deal.”

Frisk just shrugged, and picked the pot back up. “I have a feeling you’ll only need to do this just once.”

Flowey tensed up, “Wait what the hell are you doing?! I’m not ready!”

Too late, Frisk had already walked out the bedroom door, and was walking down to the kitchen, where Toriel was preparing dinner. She seemed buisy, so Frisk just placed down the pot on a table outside of the kitchen, gave Flowey a thumbs up, and hid around the corner. Flowey would have said SO many curse words to that child, but feared the presence of the eight-foot-tall mother goat making a lasagne.

Eventually Toriel saw him. “Oh, hello there Flowey,” she said, “I was not expecting you here. Weren’t you in Frisk’s room a few minutes ago?”

Flowey bobbed his head, his version of a shrug. “That’s not really important. Look, point is, I have something I have to tell you… It’s… Well, I don’t know what you’ll think of me for this, but…”

“Why would I think of you any other way?” Toriel asked, “It is not as if what you could say would offend me. Unless it is an offensive remark, which I would like if you refrained yourself from doing so.”

Flowey was about to speak, only for the towering frame of Asgore to walk into the room. “Howdy, you two,” he said, “what seems to be happening here?”

“Oh, Flowey seems to be in need of confessing something,” Toriel replied.

If Flowey had sweat glands, he would have filled his pot right about now. Was he really going to have to confess to the both of them? “Alright, yeah, let’s say that I am,” he said, “but first… There is something I have to explain.”

Toriel and Asgore sat down at the table, and listened to the flower. “Okay…” Flowey began, “You all know about Asriel’s death, right?”

The two monsters looked uncomfortable. “Yes,” said Asgore, “It was… A terrible tragedy, one I regret deeply…”

“Well, there’s more to that,” continued Flowey. “When Asriel died, his dust scattered all over the throne room. He brought some buttercup seeds on his fur while he was at the surface, and they all fell when he died, his dust practically covering the seeds. Then they grew into flowers…”

“Flowey, how do you know all of this?” asked Toriel.

“I’ll get to that…” Flowey took a breath, and started to tell the next part of the story. “Anyway, when Alphys became the Royal Scientist, she conducted an experiment on those very flowers, injecting them with DETERMINATION to see what would happen. The results came negative, she brought all the flowers back to the throne room, and then… Well, I woke up.”

Asgore nodded, “I believe Alphys had already told us this…”

“Well, I’m about to tell you…” Flowey paused for a moment, considering if he really wanted to go through with this or not. “What also happened. Alright, so Asriel’s dust was on those flowers, right? All of his remains, scattered all over the garden. Well… DETERMINATION is pretty strange, and… Well, let’s just say it wasn’t just me that was brought to life.”

Asgore just looked confused, while Toriel was beginning to put two and two together. She began to look at Flowey in shock.

“I’m terribly sorry,” said Asgore, “I don’t understand… You’re saying another flower came to life?”

Flowey shook his head. “No… Well, this is going to be hard to explain… But… I think now would be a good time to show you.”

Suddenly, Flowey’s face morphed, being covered by a strange white substance, before reforming into something that Toriel and Asgore looked at in pure disbelief.

“Hi Mom. Hi Dad,” said Asriel.

The monsters continued to stare at Flowey in shock and realization, Flowey’s face and voice morphing back to its original state. “Well, there you have it,” he said, “I’m back, but not the way you know me. I understand if you’re scared of me… I understand if you can’t look at me the same, and I wouldn’t ever! I can actually feel regret over everything I’ve done, and…”

Flowey was cut off by Asgore suddenly grabbing his pot, and bringing Flowey up to his face. There were tears in Asgore’s eyes. “… We… Have our son back.”

Toriel was covering her mouth, tears flowing down her face. She just grinned, and hugged her husband and son. Granted, trying to hug someone and a pot at the same time was awkward, but neither the less, it was a hug. “We really do… Don’t we?” she said.

Flowey didn’t even expect a single moment of this… He thought they’d look at him in horror, like some kind of husk of what used to be their son. But… Hey, Frisk was right! Flowey couldn’t believe he was thinking that, but she was freaking right! He just grinned, wishing he could physically feel the hug for himself. He didn’t have any vines to wipe away his own tears, but didn’t even care.

Flowey wished they’d never let go.

 

Later that night, Frisk was placing Flowey back at his usual spot on the windowsill. She sat on her bed, looking towards him. “I heard the confession went well,” she said.

Flowey sighed, and then smiled. “I… I guess it did! I honestly thought they’d do… Exactly the opposite of what just happened.”

“So what did they do after the hug fest?” she asked, getting under her covers.

“Well… They just sort of asked about what I did… I wasn’t really happy about telling them… About the RESETs, you know? Asgore… Dad just looked disappointed, but forgave me since technically none of it ever happened. Then Mom said I had to apologise to all the people I killed.”

“Wait, seriously?” said Frisk, “she just wants you to say to everyone ‘oh hey, just so you know I’m sorry for killing you in another timeline’? I honestly thought she’d spank you or something.”

“How would she even do that?!”

Frisk shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe she’d whack the bottom of your pot? Wait, you wouldn’t feel any of that.” She clapped, and the lights in the room turned off.

Flowey laughed a little at the thought of Toriel grounding a plant, or anyone other than her kids, really. _I wonder if she became a Layer?_ He thought, _she’d probably go all ‘For your crimes against humanity and monsterkind, I hereby send you to thy room! No television for a week!’_ Flowey then laughed harder, until an idea got into his head. He still didn’t really know why he could laugh at all, or cry, or be happy, or… Anything relating to an emotion!

“Hey, Frisk?” he asked.

Frisk just grunted in response, getting comfortable in bed.

“I think we should probably go pay Alphys a visit.”

Frisk rolled over to the side of her bed, facing Flowey. “After you apologise for killing everyone,” she said.

Flowey sighed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! It's me again, just wanting to thank you for 100 hits! Despite being pretty new to fanfiction, (relatively, at least,) I seem to be doing pretty well! You guys are liking this story, and the thought of that fills me with DETERMINATION. Apologies for having this chapter be a bit shorter than the last, but there'll be more to come!


	7. The True reunion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finale of the Flowey arc.

If there was anything Flowey didn’t expect to do for his weekend, it was this.

Granted, he did specifically ask Frisk if they could go see Dr Alphys to see if there was any way to restore his true self (after he had apologised to everyone he killed through time, an act that took two days.), but he really didn’t think about going back down to Alphys’ laboratory in the underground, stuck in some claustrophobic scanning pod.

In the meantime, Alphys was observing the data that her machine collected, analysing it closely. Frisk was sitting in a chair at the corner, playing a little portable game system. Eventually, the machine had stopped scanning Flowey, and a door on one of the glass sides opened. Frisk stood, and walked to the machine, pulling out the pot.

Alphys walked up to the two, holding a long chart of paper. “Well… T-The results came in, you guys.”

Flowey and Frisk looked at her in anticipation. “Well?” said Flowey, “What do they say?”

“Uhh… Well, Flowey? I didn’t know you were pregnant!”

“WHAT?!” Flowey looked absolutely revolted, and Frisk just looked at him in disbelief.

“R-Relax! It was… It was a joke! Heh… Uhh, what I meant was… There’s a S-Spark forming in you.”

Flowey’s revulsion turned into bewilderment, as he looked down at his own body in awe. “A Spark?”

Frisk shrugged. “Wait, what’s a Spark?” she asked.

Alphys pushed her glasses further up her face. “Well… A Spark is basically an undeveloped SOUL. You see, when two monsters want to have a baby, they- “

“Woah woah woah! I didn’t ask for a lecture on the monster birds and the bees!”

“I-It’s not anything like that!” Alphys blushed. “Oh jeez… Okay, so Monsters create a SOUL by… Uhh… Y’know, sorta combine the energies of their own S-SOUL, and in doing so… They create a Spark! Then… Well, one of them incubates it, usually the female, and the Spark f-feeds off the energy produced by the carrier to grow into a proper SOUL.”

“Oooh, gotcha. But can monsters still…?”

“I t-thought you didn’t want t-to know about that!”

Frisk shrugged. “I’m just curious.” She then looked towards Flowey. “Well… That explains why you’re feeling again, Flowey! You have a SOUL! Kinda…”

Flowey was in a mix of happiness and grief. “I do! I… I don’t really know how to feel about this… I have a SOUL, but not enough of one to be Asriel again. It’s actually really freaking disappointing and I hate it!”

Alphys took notice of Flowey’s expression. “W-Well, don’t worry!” She said, “maybe we might be able to… “mature” the Spark into an actual SOUL!”

Flowey looked at the doctor. “Oh sure, and how’ll that work? I just gotta get shoved up some monster’s- “

Flowey was then sprayed by a squirt bottle, by none other than Sans. The flower hissed at the skeleton, but was just sprayed at more.

Alphys looked at Sans in confusion. “W-Wait, Sans? How’d you get in here?”

Frisk asked Sans if he used a shortcut, but Sans just shrugged, replying * “you left the door open.”

Flowey shook some water off of his body, and glared at Sans. “Why are you even here?” he asked, “Wait, were you always here or something? How much did you hear?”

* “enough,” replied Sans, * “and hey, it looks like while I was on my way, flowey’s soul grew three times this day.”

“I guess it did...” Said Frisk. “Actually, there’s something I don’t really get. How DID Flowey get a Spark anyway?”

Alphys shrugged. “That’s the main thing… I… Don’t really know! I do have some ideas t-though… Maybe Flowey was unknowingly… Sapping some of the energy from Frisk’s soul? That, or… Well, it’s a theory, but…”

“But?”

“W-Well, what if something inanimate is given life through DETERMINATION, and all of the substance within the object… M-maybe forms some kind of spark? That, or the object simply does absorb nearby SOUL power… Either way, it’s a theory that all things given life with DETERMINATION will, one way or a-another… Develop a SOUL! I call it the… Uhh…” Alphys gave a quick glance to Flowey. “The… Flower theory.”

“Wow, how creative of you, doc! You’re as great as naming as my dad.” Sneered Flowey.

“Wait, was that supposed to be a joke, or regular Flowey sarcasm?” asked Frisk.

“I don’t even know anymore…”

While Frisk was talking to the plant, Sans walked up to Alphys, his hands in his hoodie pockets. * “so doc, you got any ways to actually develop the Spark?”

“Well…” Began Alphys, “this is just an idea, but… What if we exposed the Spark to the energy from Monster SOULS? That should provide enough to get it to form a Monster SOUL!”

* “well, i don’t wanna cause sparks between our ideas, but wouldn’t that be pretty dangerous?”

Alphys looked at Sans in confusion. “I… Don’t get what you mean.”

* “well, you said that there might have been a chance that the guy’s determination formed that spark, right? that means it might be a spark made out of the stuff. if we gave it soul power from a monster’s soul, it could either melt, fizzle out and die, or form some kind of monster soul powered with determination.”

“So it could either fail, or become… Well, how powerful do you think it would be?”

* “pretty strong. anyway, i guess you should go tell them that, see if they want to change their minds before they try the procedure. i’d go and do it, but i don’t have the heart for these things.”

Alphys sniggered to herself, and walked towards Frisk and Flowey, who were having a discussion over what they would do if Asriel came back.

“Okay… Well guys… I have good news and… Bad news, actually.”

Flowey rolled his eyes. “Y’know you’re stereotyping doctors by saying that, right? Whatever, what’s the bad news?”

“W-Well… Flowey, your Spark might have been created out of pure DETERMINATION, sort of like a human SOUL… Which means that it might… Well, I’m not really sure but there’s probably a good chance it might fade.”

Frisk frowned, and Flowey’s expression shifted to a look of disbelief. “Well… At least there’s good news!” said Frisk, giving Flowey a little nudge. His expression changed only in the slightest.

“Oh, yeah! Well… The good news? T-There might be a chance that if it does… Uh… Work, your SOUL m-might be incredibly powerful! A-Almost enough to rival a human’s… Maybe, we still don’t know.”

Flowey’s expression changed, he now looked sort of hopeful. “… You know what? I’m up for it.”

The two looked at Flowey in surprise, and he continued. “As cheesy as this sounds, we just have to try, alright?”

* “wow, now you’re really sounding like some flower character from a tv show.”

“Shut up Sans, please…”

* “alright, didn’t mean to get your goat.”

“I’m not even Asriel yet!”

Frisk was laughing to herself, holding the flower close. “It’s going to work,” she told him, “we just need to stay determined.”

 

Later that day, Flowey was in yet another enclosed machine, this one thankfully being much, much larger than that scanner box he was in earlier, with a blast shield over the glass door. Flowey didn’t want to know why this thing needed one to begin with. Frisk was sitting in a chair against the wall, along with Toriel and Asgore. Sans was standing in the corner, sleeping. Alphys was digging through a cabnet, pulling out two strange vial looking objects. She walked towards the two boss monsters.

“O-Okay,” she said, “these canisters here are designed to extract SOUL power. I just need you both to stay still… You may feel a bit drained afterwards, but…”

Asgore nodded, a smile on his face. “I do not mind any ill effects from this. I am just so grateful of you, Alphys… You’re helping bring our son back to us.” Toriel smiled, not saying anything herself. Alphys could tell she was choked up on the idea of seeing Asriel again, just like Asgore.

Alphys placed one of the canisters on Asgore’s chest, causing him to groan as it began filling with a white, wispy substance. Once it filled, she moved to Toriel, and did the same. Both canisters were filled, and the two monsters slumped in their seat, looking seemingly exhausted.

“Perhaps it would have been better to just fill one of those with both our power?” asked Toriel, sounding slightly out of breath.

“Well...” Alphys then stopped to think. “That would have made more sense… But hey! More SOUL power, the better?” She placed the canisters in slots on one side of the contraption, it beginning to whir to life. Alphys stood back, and Frisk got out of her chair. She walked up to Flowey, who was looking around the inside of his pod frantically.

“I hope this works, you know.”

Flowey looked at Frisk, and smiled. “Same here,” he said, “and hey, if this doesn’t work, I have been eying this tulip over in the backyard, she seems like a nice person.”

“Wait, you’ve been talking to the flowers?”

“Yeah. They’re all jerks.”

Frisk smilled, and walked back to her seat. Alphys began to type commands on a control panel that were too fast to follow, and the innards of the machine whirred and clicked. Alphys’ monitor showed a scan of Flowey, and in the centre of his body (stem?) was a small, gold glowing ball. His Spark. She typed more commands, the roof of Flowey’s pod glowing intensely.

Flowey gazed at the roof, and then turned his head away when the light got too bright. “Wait, wait!” he called out, “I changed my mind, I don’t think this is going to work! I…!” He was cut off by the entire pod filling with a blinding light, and then there was a yell. Everyone in the room covered their eyes, except for Sans, who was still fast asleep.

The blast shield went down, covering most of the light. Everyone could see again.

“Is he alright?” asked Toriel.

Alphys was frantically checking statuses of the device. “It… It’s working, I t-think! His Spark is accepting the energy…”  A beeping sound started to play, and Alphys looked at the control panel in shock. “Oh no.”

Asgore stood. “Is something the matter Alphys?”

The beeping became more and more frantic. Alphys began to sweat furiously. “G-Get down!” she yelled, and crouched down, covering her head.

“Hold on, what’s going-?” Asgore barely got to finish his question before parts of the machine began to fall off, the blast door exploding off its hinge.

Thankfully, no one in the room was harmed. Asgore wiped the dust off his face, looking around to see if everyone was accounted for. There was Frisk, Toriel, Alphys… Was Sans STILL sleeping?! He then saw a figure begin to walk out of the opening of the machine. He looked like Asgore when he was a young child himself, wore a green striped shirt, and sported a cowlick that his mother could never seem to pat down.

“Did… Did it work?” said Asriel. “I don’t think it worked… My legs feel kinda weird, and…” he stopped himself, and looked down at his body. “LEGS,” he yelled. “I have legs! I have… I…” He then looked towards his family.

Asgore was staring at him, a grin of relief and happiness spreading across his face. He ran up towards his son, scooping him up and holding him close. It only took a matter of seconds for Toriel and Frisk to join in on the hug. No one said a single word, but the moment never even needed one. Alphys stood, smiled, and took a picture of the scene.

“I am so… So happy to hold you again, my child.” Said Toriel.

Asriel, once again, never wanted to let go.

 

Sans woke up. * “oh hey, what did I miss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It's me again, and wow, I just wrapped up an arc! Granted this one was pretty damn short, but there's going to be more in the future! I'm glad you guys are enjoying this so far, and I'll see you later!


	8. Short: Bets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm doing something different and making a short chapter! Why? Mostly because A, I'm lazy, or B, I don't have enough time to write all these nearly 2000 words of chapter! Either way, enjoy!

After having regained his proper from, Asriel had finally begun proper schooling.

Sure, there was a lot he wanted to do now that he wasn’t trapped as a SOULless flower, but as his mom told him, ‘there’s never a bad time to start education.’ Oh well, at least school was one of the things Asriel had always wanted to experience. He knew the layout of the school fairly well, from his time being Flowey. _Thank gosh Frisk’s teacher doesn’t know who I was._

As being the prince of monsterkind, Asriel was actually fairly popular among students. Mostly for his title, himself, or for just how gosh darn fluffy the guy was. Today was no exception, and Asriel and Frisk were around a table of a large group of children during lunch. The two were in a public school while the school Toriel intended to build was under construction, and as to be expected, the cafeteria food tasted like something that’s been in the back of the fridge for about two weeks. The Dreemurr children were very happy their mother always gave them home made lunches.

One of the kids closest to Asriel, Leo, scooted a bit closer to him. “Hey Asriel,” he said, “You’re some kind of goat, right?”

Asriel put down his sandwich, and turned to Leo. “I guess so. Why do you ask?”

“Well… Y’know how goats can eat anything?” The child then pulled out a sheet of paper, and scrunched it up into a ball, handing it to him. “I bet you a dollar you can eat this.”

Asriel stared at the paper wad, and grabbed it. He then turned to Frisk. “Hey, do you think I should eat this?”

Frisk gazed at her adoptive brother in sudden surprise. “Uh… Well, I guess? How bad could it be, I’ve literally eaten doughnuts made out of spiders.”

The children all “ewwww’d” at Frisk’s remark, and Asriel plopped the paper wad into his mouth, chewing, and then swallowing. “That… Wasn’t so bad, I guess.”

Leo gasped in amazement, and handed a dollar note towards Asriel. Pretty soon, the kids were looking at Asriel, ideas forming in their heads. “Hey Asriel! I bet you can’t eat this… Tupperware container!” said a child. “No way! Eat this soda can!” “Ooh! Ooh! What about this paper bag?”

Frisk looked at her brother in slight worry, while a cocky smile grew on Asriel’s face. “Golly… That’s a lot of bets. I accept your challenges!”

 

A few minutes later.

Asriel was beginning to look ill. Kids were still shoving random items towards his direction, and Frisk began to look even more concerned. “Azzy?” she asked, “You look like you’re going to be sick… Can monsters even do that?”

Asriel shrugged. “Dunno…” he said, “y’know how monsters don’t really have proper innards though? Because right now I feel like a duffle bag…”

Kids all over the table were chanting his name, while other children had approached to check the commotion. Asriel groaned, and then reached out for another plastic snap lock bag. Before he could, he groaned in pain again, and got off his seat. “W-Woah… Okay guys, can we just take a break? I don’t…”

And then Asriel threw up.

It was actually a sight to behold, if you weren’t one of the many children, including Frisk, who turned away. Asriel didn’t barf in the traditional sense, it was like everything he had eaten was just randomly ejected from his body, spilling out of his mouth and onto the floor in a chewed up mess.

He took a moment to catch his breath, and turned to his classmates. “So…” said Asriel, “how’d I do with my first bet?”

The classmates just gave a bunch of cheers, some looking revolted. Over at the front of the table, Frisk smiled, and gave a little thumbs up.


	9. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of the Megarc. Because I can't think of any other name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Welp, here's one of the biggest arcs I'll attend! Some of you guys like this fic, others might not, IDK you don't really criticize. Anyway, enjoy!

It was a slow weekend at the Dreemurr house.

Frisk and Asriel were watching some good old Saturday morning cartoons, enjoying the simpler things in life. While Frisk did promise to go show Asriel all the things he could do on the surface, it was a few weeks since he was brought back from being a flower, and that list of things was already halfway done.

For now, The Dreemurr children were just wanting to take a break. Yesterday the two went to an amusement park, and they decided that today would be taken a bit slow. Asriel didn’t argue, willing to spend a bit of downtime every once in a while. Hell, he actually found watching cartoons really enjoyable, laughing at how inaccurate humans had portrayed monsters before the barrier was destroyed.

Frisk on the other hand felt rather contended with herself. When she looked around the room, walls lined with some family posters, Toriel over at the dining table reading a book, and her fluffy brother sitting right next to her, she felt happy. Falling down that pit was one of the best accidents she’d ever made. She took a long swig of her juice box, reflecting happily on the last few months.

And then the TV switched to a breaking news report.

“This is an emergency broadcast,” said the man on the TV, we would like to inform all those down in the USA, San Francisco, to evacuate the premises immediately, as currently a massively powerful and dangerous monster is rampaging through the city.”

Asriel gasped at the image on the TV, and Frisk flat out spat out her juice. The picture was of some kind of monster, something surprisingly looking a lot like Asgore, except even larger, covered in wisps of red and black that partially hid its body. There was a trail of destruction around it, cars overturn, most of them on fire, and roads cracked.

“Woah…” said Asriel, “Y’know, I guess humans weren’t TOO far off with how monsters were after all…?”

“Is that even a monster?” asked Frisk.

“I don’t know… It looks like one, but… No monster can have done that much destruction without being killed by humans! And a group of humans could overpower even the strongest monster!”

Asgore had walked into the room, holding a cell phone in his hand. The thing looked tiny in his giant paw. His wife looked towards him. “What is it, dear?”

Asgore sighed, looking confused. “I’m not sure… I’ve just gotten a call about a monster… Rampaging. It’s presumably killed some humans.”

Frisk turned to him. “Wait… So you think that… That THING absorbed a bunch of human SOULs?!”

Asgore looked frightened. “It would appear so… The government has called several forces to handle the situation, they even request my presence. This includes you, Toriel.”

Toriel stood. “I… I see. I am the Queen, after all…” She sighed, and turned to her children. Asriel looked frightened, holding the ends of his ears. Frisk however was as determined as usual.

“I have to go!” she said, “I can help! Maybe I can talk it out of destroying things, find out why it’s doing this, maybe even get it to let those SOULs loose!”

Toriel frowned, and shook her head. “My child… I have a feeling a… ‘Being’ like this cannot be reasoned with. Do not forget that you are the ambassador of all monsterkind. Your role is as important to the world as we are to our people. If that being ever…” Toriel stopped herself, seeming choked up at the thought of what she was going to say. “Well… The world would suffer a great blow to human monster relations.”

Frisk sighed. _If only she knew I could LOAD,_ she thought.

Asgore nodded. “Your mother has a point… Do not worry about us. We will surely be fine.” Asriel noticed the uncertainty in his voice. “In the meantime, we will ask someone to take care of you both while we are away.”

Toriel was already dialling a number in her own phone, fumbling a little from her oversized fingers. Frisk and Asriel already knew she was going to call over the skeleton brothers. Eventually after Toriel called, she and Asgore had kissed both their children on the forehead, and walked out the door.

Asriel turned to Frisk. “So… Do you think they’re going to be okay?”

Frisk frowned and shook her head.

 

Frisk moaned to herself, lying on her bed, completely out of ideas on how they could be able to help.

It had been a few hours since Sans and Papyrus came to look after the Dreemurr kids. They had brought Alphys, who was practically a nervous wreck due to Undyne leaving to assist the humans down in San Francisco along with the king and queen. Every channel Frisk watched were all reports about the monster; which people had started calling it “The Storm.” _That doesn’t even make sense,_ thought Frisk, _it doesn’t have lightning… Does it?_

Though most of the day was uneventful, Frisk still couldn’t stop thinking about the Storm. She managed to face off against ASRIEL DREEMURR, GOD OF HYPERDEATH, so what would make this thing so different? Granted it was nothing more than a hulking goat of pure hatred and destruction. Litterally, Alphys said that the black stuff surrounding it was some kind of substance called HATE.

She had told Sans about willing to try and show the Storm mercy, but Sans told them off, saying that despite the fact she could make friends with everything in the underground, something like this probably didn’t want to be reasoned with. Frisk felt that he was right.

Asriel walked into her bedroom, carrying two cups of hot chocolate. He set one of the cups down on the bedside table, and sat down next to Frisk. “Are you still thinking about the Storm?” he asked.

Frisk huffed and rolled over, facing Asriel. “Yeah… I don’t know what to do! Everyone says that this thing is something that I probably shouldn’t try to handle… And I’ve gone up against things WAY worse than that thing!”

Asriel shrugged. “Well… I don’t think it can- “

“Be reasoned with, I know… How do you think that thing even came into existence?”

“I dunno. Could just be a monster getting a couple of human SOULS… It’s not causing the apocalypse or whatever, so I’d say it’s got like… Three or four? I’m pretty sure an army of humans could be able to destroy it.”

“Well what about the guy who lands the finishing blow? What happens if they get all the EXP and go crazy?”

Asriel frowned, thinking to himself. “Well… I guess you’re right. A monster would get flattened by that thing in an instant… You know how we’re weakened by hatred? That thing is practically swimming in it.”

“Then why’d they get Mom and Dad to fight it?!”

“I don’t know! Maybe they were there to rally up all the monsters to help them evacuate…”

Frisk rolled back onto her back. “I still should be helping… I could just try to get it to stop fighting one way or another! And if something would go wrong, I could always LOAD.”

“But what if there isn’t another way? What if every time you LOAD you just keep failing and failing?”

Frisk sighed. “I know… Maybe if that thing still had some kind of functional and reasoning mind I’d actually be able to spare it!”

“Well… I guess you could LOAD to when it still did? Wait… No that wouldn’t work. You SAVE’d this morning did you?”

Frisk sadly nodded.

“Crud…” Asriel sighed, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. “Well you’d probably need a time machine then.”

Frisk nodded once more, and laid in silence.

“WAKE ME UP!”

* “wake me up inside.”

“CAN’T WAKE UP!”

* “wake me up inside.”

“SAVE MEEEEE.”

Frisk and Asriel both groaned. It sounded like the skelebros had found that karaoke machine in the attic. Why Asgore bought the thing was unknown, but they usually brought it out for parties. Frisk felt like it was pretty retro, and using it made her feel like she was stepping back into the 80’s.

  _Wait… Stepping back into the eighties? Stepping back…_ She bolted up, getting an idea. “Wait, Az, what did you just say?”

“You’d probably need a time machine?”

“That’s it! We just need a time machine!”

Asriel looked at Frisk in confusion. “Uh… Okay sure, can time machines be bought at the pawn shop now?”

“No! We literally have the Ex Royal Scientist in our house! We can just ask her to make one for us!”

“Oh…” Asriel began to grin, “Oh yeah! We can just go back in time, find that monster before it lost its mind or something, and see if we can talk it out of absorbing someone’s SOUL and going on a murder spree!”

“You think it would be back in the Underground?”

“Maybe… Dad did tell me that not every monster in existence was banished… There were a couple of stragglers. Maybe it could be somewhere on the surface?”

“Let’s just hope it’s in the Underground. It’ll give us a lot less space to cover.”

Asriel nodded, drank the rest of his drink, and stood. “Well, what are we waiting for! Let’s ask Alphys for that time machine!”

Frisk smilled, becoming filled with DETERMINATION. She grabbed her own drink, and walked out the door with her brother.

 

“I’m sorry… I don’t think I can help you there.”

Frisk and Asriel looked at Alphys in disappointment. “But why?” Frisk asked.

Alphys frowned, “A-Again, I’m sorry… But not even I know how to make something like a time machine! Besides… Even if I did manage to b-build one it would probably take months!”

“Isn’t there any other way to go back in time?” Asked Asriel.

Alphys thought for a few seconds. “Well… There’s always LOADing.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. “Wait… What? Alphys, how’d you find out about SAVEs and LOADs?”

“Oh, Sans told me! He’s actually… Really smart, you know? Helped me do some research about SAVE files and everything… I’ve been c-considering offering him a position as a lab partner for a while now!”

“Well… Okay then. But I’d bet you know I couldn’t LOAD back to when the thing was sane! And there’s no way in hell I’m ever resetting. I made a promise.”

“W-Well... I’m sorry Frisk. Every entity with a SOUL has their own SAVE file, and they only get one… You’d either have to RESET or… Something else.”

Just then, Asriel got an idea. “Wait… Oh! Hey, talking about SAVE files… It gave me an idea!”

Frisk and Alphys turned to him.

“If she won’t LOAD hers… Then why doesn’t she LOAD another SAVE, and then LOAD hers?”

“Asriel,” said Alphys, “I just said that every SOUL has only one SAVE file, it’s not like Frisk could just get a second one.”

Asriel smiled sheepishly. “Well… What if I knew how they could?”


	10. Absorption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Late chapter this time, but hey, things are picking up around now! Stay tuned.

“Wait, what do you mean you could give Frisk a second SOUL?”

Alphys and Frisk were looking at Asriel in confusion. His sheepish smile was still on his face.

“It’s… Well it’s a crazy idea, but I guess it could work! All we need to do is have her absorb one, and then she can LOAD that monster's SAVE file back to when the barrier was still up, find that monster, and talk him out of future rampaging! Then she can just LOAD her save file and not have to live out the breaking of the barrier again! It would be just like using a time machine.”

Alphys shook her head. “Yeah, but… That’s impossible! A human has never m-managed to absorb a monster SOUL; the SOUL would just turn to dust as soon as it’s out of the vessel! Not only that, but… Well, a monster with a human SOUL is powerful… But the other way around…”

“Oooh,” said Frisk, “So it would be sort of like putting cream before coffee?”

Asriel shrugged. “I guess so. But yeah! Monsters, including myself, barely have any DETERMINATION compared to humans. I mean, I guess I do… But Frisk’s DETERMINATION would still override mine. Golly, with all the DETERMINATION she has, I don’t think anyone would be able to SAVE and LOAD if she was still around! Well… If those guys found out how to do it anyway.”

Alphys looked confused. “Well… I guess that plan would kinda make sense… B-But how would you even get hold of a Monster SOUL in the first place! You’d have to… Kill a monster to get the SOUL, and unless it’s a boss monster…”

“Well, why not mine?”

Frisk looked at Asriel in confusion and horror. “Az… What are you talking about! I’m not going to kill you!”

“And you don’t have to! My SOUL was made from a Spark, right? And that Spark came from a bunch of DETERMINATION, I think… My point is, my SOUL is pretty strong… So I guess that means I can do stuff like this!”

Suddenly, Asriel’s form began to flicker, and dissolve. Frisk and Alphys both gasped in horror, and then all of Asriel’s dust swirled around a white, upside down heart. His SOUL. Unlike a normal monster SOUL, Asriel’s had a glowing, golden outline. The dust continued to swirl, before completely entering the SOUL. It continued to float, pulsating slightly with energy. Then the dust drifted outwards, and Asriel reformed. He stumbled a little from the experience.

“What… Was…” Alphys began to speak, trying to find the words. “I… I have so many questions!”

Asriel regained his balance, and smiled. “Cool, huh? I dunno how I can do that, but I figured it out a few days ago!”

Frisk looked confused, while Alphys began to think quickly. “H-He just… Turned to dust… Except he could store his dust in his SOUL and… And… Reform? I don’t know if that’s just moving his body INSIDE h-his SOUL or… If he’s killing himself, his SOUL’S DETERMINATION keeps it living, and then the SOUL just sort of absorbs it… Then it… Resurrects him? I don’t even know!”

Frisk looked a bit concerned. “Az… Are you sure we should even do this? I mean, I don’t know how you can do that weird… SOUL withdrawal thing, but what if it goes wrong? And besides, why couldn’t you just take my SOUL instead?”

Asriel frowned. “Well... I guess I could, but… Okay, this is going to sound really selfish but… I don’t really want to absorb another human SOUL again… Not after…”

Frisk suddenly remembered Asriel’s experiences with SOULs. There was Chara, him absorbing every monster’s SOUL, and then there was that creature Flowey turned into when he had six of those human SOULs. Frisk named that form Omega Flowey. Mostly because he looked like some sort of final boss in a video game, and the name fitted that look.

“Okay… I understand.” Frisk placed a hand on Asriel’s shoulder, and smiled. “Oh… Hang on a sec… How do you even get the idea anyway? And what if it doesn’t work?”

Asriel gave a weak smile towards his sibling. “I know it will. I’ve done it before, remember?”

Frisk realized what he was talking about, and nodded. Alphys was still racking her brain over all the information processed. “W-Wait…” she said, “So what you’re saying is that… When one person LOADs, they’re just going back to a part in their timeline, and not resetting the entire universe’s timeline back to that point?”

Asriel nodded. “Yep. I don’t really know much about how it works, but… Say that our timeline is like… A big road! There’s millions of people walking in one direction on that road. One person could LOAD and walk back to their old position on that road, but would have to walk all the way back to where they originally went. Or, if someone LOADs another person’s SAVE, they get to go to that person’s old position on that road! And if they want, they could go back to their original track.”

Frisk thought about what Asriel said. “So… What do you think happens to the timeline when something’s changed? Does the universe have to compensate and mess with reality, or is that timeline just sort of… There, continuing?”

Asriel shrugged. “I dunno… That was just sort of a metaphor I made up on the spot… I guess the universe’s timeline is… Um… Kind of a one way road going a certain destination. But when someone LOADs and makes changes? The timeline has to take a different route…”

Frisk smiled and nodded. “Well, what are we waiting for? If this could be like real time travel, we should go back to your SAVE point and stop that monster!”

“Um… A-Actually…” Alphys began to speak. “We don’t really know… what would happen if you did try to do that. Either Asriel might have two SAVES… Flowey’s, or maybe before he… You know. And besides, what if something happens to you both? Frisk, what if I mess up your ability to SAVE? What if I end up doing this and… And end up hurting you both? Toriel would kill me! I...”

“Alphys,” Frisk walked up to the yellow lizard, her expression being one of DETERMINATION. “if we don’t stop that… Thing, hundreds… Thousands of people, monsters included, are going to die. This has to work, and we need you to help us, alright?”

“H-Help? How am I s-supposed to help you?”

“Manage the absorption I guess? If it goes wrong… Well, I’m sure you might be able to prevent something like that!”

Alphys gulped. “I… I really don’t know. I’ve had a pretty bad h-history with test subjects a-and…”

Frisk’s expression remained unchanged. “You have to help us. What if Mom and Dad get killed? What if Undyne gets killed?”

As soon as Undyne’s name was mentioned, Alphys’ face turned to shock and horror, imagining what would happen if The Storm… She buried her face in her hands, and sighed. “A-Alright… I’ll help you both.”

Frisk smiled. “Thanks… I promise, this is going to work. It has to!”

Alphys looked at the child, and nervously smiled.

 

“So how much longer are we going to have to wait?”

Asriel was pacing around Alphys and Undyne’s home, waiting for the doctor to finish whatever contraptions she was setting up over in the garage. His sister was sitting on the living room sofa.

Frisk shrugged. “Whenever she’s ready. You know how she is.”

“So she could turn an 80’s mobile phone into a jetpack in a matter of seconds, but can’t make some kind of… Magic scanning chamber in under 10 minutes?”

“Yeah… To be honest that doesn’t make much sense. You think it’s because she’s reinforcing it? She did say a human with a monster SOUL has a ton of power. For all we know we might blow up her house during the absorption.”

Asriel stopped pacing, and sat next to Frisk. “I guess… Hey, about that? I’ve absorbed SOULS a couple times, but I’ve never had mine absorbed before… What do you think it’ll feel like?”

“To be honest? I’m not sure. I don’t even know what’ll happen to me, at all!”

“Well… I know how it felt after I absorbed… Well, Chara’s SOUL.”

Frisk lifted an eyebrow. “… I guess this is kind of a touchy subject, but what was that like anyway?”

“It felt… Strange. Like… Chara was still with me, but in my head? I felt powerful… Primal, sorta.”

“Primal?”

“Yeah… Well I can’t really describe how it felt, but I just sort of ignored it.”

Frisk thought about what Asriel described, before Alphys came into the room. “It’s ready…” she said. Even she looked unsure about what would happen next.

The Dreemurr children stood up, and followed the lizard to the garage door. Inside was some sort of big, reinforced glass box, connected to a monitor a few inches away. Alphys entered a command on the monitor, and a panel on the box slid open. Both kids walked inside. It was surprisingly roomy.

Alphys typed a few more commands, and the machine whirred to life. Her monitor displayed the magical energy readings of the two. Asriel’s status was normal, magical levels exceedingly high. Traces of DETERMINATION present. _But how has he not… Melted?_ Alphys thought to herself. Maybe she’d figure that out one day. Frisk’s status was as she would have expected. Magical levels, extremely low, DETERMINATION levels off the charts. She may as well be the only human in the world with that much raw DETERMINATION. _But is it natural? Or is Frisk_ … Alphys pushed her thoughts aside. She had to ensure this would work. Like Frisk said, it had to.

Alphys called out, “O-Okay… You two can start whenever you both want to… Take y-your time if you want!”

Frisk didn’t want to admit it, but she was scared. Scared if this might hurt Asriel, scared if the LOAD would fail, scared about what would even happen once she had his SOUL… Her fear was quickly replaced by DETERMINATION, and she looked towards her brother.

Asriel smiled back, looking as nervous as Frisk was. “Well… Let’s do this, then…”

He sighed, and relaxed. His form seemed to blur and flicker again, dissolving into fine powder. It swirled around the pulsating white SOUL left over, and entered it. Asriel’s SOUL floated in front of Frisk, glowing softly. The child tenderly held out her hands, and the heart floated towards her.

It then rammed into her chest, and Frisk was overcome with pain.

 

Alphys just watched in shock. Asriel’s SOUL just… Entered Frisk! Just like that, no warning, no signal… No anything! She watched as the human yelled in startled pain, and hunched over. Oh god, did something go wrong? She knew this was a bad idea, a human with a monster SOUL had never been researched before! Or even heard of!

“Oh god… F-Frisk?!” she called out, “A-Are you alright?”

The child turned towards her, giving a weak smile and a thumbs up, before yelling arching her back out in pain. Alphys could have sworn there were bolts of lightning crawling along her skin.

 

Frisk didn’t know what was going on. All she knew was that she was in pain, and that her chest burned. She groaned, and held her stomach. The only things she could see and hear was white flashes, sparks of electricity, and Alphys calling out to her. She held a hand against her forehead, and noticed that it was becoming clawed, stronger…

“Need… T-To LOAD…” She stumbled around for something, anyone. Asriel, Mom, Dad… But nobody came.

Her hand was starting to get coated in white fur, just like Asriel’s. She heard a voice. “Frisk! T-This is a bad idea, you need to stop… Whatever you’re doing now! This is too dange-“ Suddenly the voice was cut out by a large bang. Sounds like a part of the machine just exploded. Was it supposed to do that? Did Frisk do that? She didn’t know.

She ignored the pain, and the voice in her head telling her that she didn’t know what would happen. She didn’t care. She reached out, and there was a flash.

 

Alphys stood back up. She had ducked for cover from the monitor. Frisk just… Overloaded the machine’s magical scanner, and then all of a sudden…! Alphys looked towards the wreck of her machine. The box was in shambles, sparks of electricity still arcing along the metal surface. Frisk was nowhere to be found.

“Oh god… What were they even thinking?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S, and before you ask, yes, this is inspired a bit by Lynxgriffin's comic, Dogs of future past! Except instead of being a dog, Frisk is going to be... Something else.


	11. Back underground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! sorry for the late chapter, but the holidays are pretty time consuming. Anyway, enjoy!

Frisk was falling.

She didn’t know where she was. She was disoriented, and she didn’t know how long she had shut her eyes. When she opened them, she was met with pitch blackness. She did, however, see a light in front of her. Or below her? She couldn’t tell.

She seemed to be able to walk, so she stepped towards the light. Upon approaching it, she saw a familiar sight. Her SAVE file. It looks like the last time she saved was… Looks like it was when she was absorbing Asriel’s SOUL. She honestly didn’t remember SAVE-ing during that. Actually, it was sort of a blur. All she could remember was white flashes, and that was pretty much it. _Now that I think about it…_ Frisk thought, _where’s…?_

Suddenly, she heard a voice call out her name. She followed it. A few seconds later, it called out again. “Frisk! Where are you? I can’t… I can’t feel anything!”

Fearing the worst, Frisk started to run. She came across another light, slightly brighter than the light of her own SAVE file. When she reached it, there was another SAVE file, and next to it was Asriel… Sort of.

Asriel was looking down at himself in confusion and shock, and for good reason. His entire body was transparent and colourless. It was almost as if he was some sort of ghost. When he saw Frisk, he grinned.

“Oh thank gosh you’re alright!” he beamed, “I thought the LOAD would fail, there was so much magical energy flying around the place… And look at your SOUL!”

“Huh?” Frisk looked down at her chest. Sure enough, her SOUL was glowing through, pulsing with a soft red light. Below it on the other hand was a monster SOUL, pulsing alongside hers. It almost looked as if it was some sort of SOUL hourglass.

“Woah… I have your SOUL…” said Frisk.

Asriel nodded. “I guess that’s why I’m all see-through. You think you can LOAD one of my SAVEs?”

Frisk raised an eyebrow. “One of your SAVEs?”

“Yeah… You know what Alphys said about me probably having two SAVE files?”

“I think so. She didn’t really explain it.”

“Well, she was right! I think one of them was before I died, and the other is Flowey’s, I guess. I think it’s because of my new SOUL?”

“Maybe. So which one do we choose?”

“Either. I guess I’d prefer if we didn’t pick Flowey’s, though. If you end up LOADing my old one? Well, to be honest, I don’t know when we’ll be. Either way, if we actually can LOAD the files, we can just find that monster that’ll become The Storm, and talk it out of future rampaging!”

Frisk smiled. “That’s the plan, alright.”

The human walked up to the SAVE file. What was strange about this one was that the text on it was written… Oddly. Instead of words, there was just some strange garbled mess of letters and symbols. To her left, there was another SAVE file, this one being the exact same as the other. Frisk couldn’t tell either one apart. Could it be Asriel’s? Or Flowey’s?

“Uh… Hey,” said Asriel, “if we end up screwing up? We can always LOAD a SAVE. Either one, you know?”

Frisk nodded, and looked between the two files. _Oh what the heck_ , thought Frisk, as she placed down a hand on the SAVE file she was facing. She and Asriel both felt a sudden jerk as

**LOADING…**

 

WUMPH.

Asriel hit the ground. He groaned, and tried to open his eyes. When he did manage to pry them open, he saw his dad’s old throne room. Except it was different. There was no flowers covering the floors, and in the centre of the room were two thrones instead of the usual one he was so used to seeing.

_It… It worked!_ Said Asriel. _Frisk, we did it! We LOADed! We_ … He tried to look around for his sister, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move his head, let alone the rest of his body. He didn’t even know if he was moving his mouth when he talked. He started to panic, until he felt himself say “Ow.” Asriel then felt himself stand up, and realised what was going on.

 

Frisk looked around the room. “Hey… We actually did it!” She said. She then frowned at how she sounded. She sounded slightly older, but her voice had a growl to it? She cleared her throat. Nope, still sounds the same. Shrugging it off, Frisk began to wonder where Asriel went. At that point, Frisk heard a voice in her head, saying _Right here._

Her eyes darting around the room, the human began to look for him. “Azzy?” she called out, “Where’d you go?”

Once again, she heard the voice speak in her head. _I think we’re the same person…_

Frisk gasped, and rubbed her head. “Wait… Oh, OH! Right, the absorption… So does that mean I’m kind of still me? Or am I you? Can you move around?”

_First off, I don’t know either. You’d need to take a good look at yourself. Second? I guess I can’t! I don’t know why either. I guess we were right about a Human with a monster SOUL being different._

“I guess so. Plus, now that I think about it? It’s probably for the best that we didn’t LOAD Flowey’s SAVE. Think about it! If Dad saw us… Me? I dunno, but during that time period he’d probably try to take my SOUL.”

_Oh right! Heh… Well, I’m sure this was before I died. So I’m alive, and Chara’s… Down here… Or not… I’m really not sure how far back we went._

“I guess we could ask around, see what date it is.”

_About that. Monsters never really had any way to determine the time. We were underground, you know._

“Oh. Well… I’m sure the date won’t matter, anyway. We just gotta find that monster, and...”

“Excuse me?” Frisk heard a voice behind her. She turned around, only to be greeted by the towering figure of Asgore. He didn’t really seem any different from the one in the present.

“Howdy,” he said. “I’m sorry if this may offend you, but who exactly are you talking to there?”

Frisk’s mind began racing. Did he know that she’s a human? Would he even mind? If this was before Asriel died, then he surely wouldn’t try to kill her, right? Or would he?

“I uh…” she mumbled, “I was talking to… Myself.”

Asgore nodded. “I see. I do suppose it’s one way to have a conversation.” He paused, gazing at Frisk with a questioning expression. “Also… I do believe I have never seen you around here. What kind of monster exactly are you?”

“ _Monster?_ ” said Frisk and Asriel in union. Did he think she was some kind of monster instead of a human? That couldn’t be right.

_Hey, Frisk?_ Said Asriel, _I don’t want to alarm you but… Can you just take a quick look at yourself?_

Wondering why Asriel said that, Frisk looked down at her own hands.

Oh.

Her arms were coated in white goat fur, while also appearing to be much more toned than they originally were. Her fingers had also became sharpened at the ends, as if flesh and nail had just fused. Her mind raced with so many different questions, and she realized she still needed to answer Asgore’s.

“Oh! Well… I don’t really go out much.” She said.

“Ah. Well, I wonder what brought you into my throne room. Did you get lost?”

“Yes! Yes I did… But I think I know the way out.”

Asgore smiled. “Well, if you do indeed know your way out, then so be it. I must be off soon, there’s some rather important business I must attend to. I do wish you luck in the future, though.” With that, he started to walk out.

Asgore then turned his head. “Golly, I forgot to ask you something! What’s your name?”

“My name?” said Frisk. She hesitated to tell her real name. It might cause some kind of timeline change, or maybe a paradox? She didn’t get time travel all that much. “My name is… Is…”

_Asrisk?_ Provided Asriel.

Frisk smiled and nodded. “Asrisk! Yeah, that’s my name. Totally. 100%.”

With a final nod, Asgore left the room.

Frisk looked around the room. There was still one question deeply bugging her.

“Hey, Azzy?” she asked.

Asriel replied with a short _yes?_

“So… Can you explain why I’m some kind of…? I don’t even know what I am right now!”

_Oh! Uh… Well, that’s sort of the thing. You know how I changed shape and became a really powerful entity when I absorbed the SOULs?_

“You mean God of Hyperdeath? That honestly sounds like something from Deviantart.”

_What’s Deviantart?_

“Actually, forget I said anything about that. But yeah, go on?”

_I’m pretty sure the same happened to you! Though usually the transformation thing is sort of… Well, it can be controlled. I don’t think we’ll be able to though._

“Why not?”

_I might have already tried to do it when you were speaking with Dad… I really can’t do a thing right now!_

“Oh… Eh, I guess it’s sort of okay. Everyone should think I’m a monster, you know? It’s sort of like a disguise.”

_Oh. Oh yeah! This might actually be a good thing. Plus, once we head back to your SAVE file, we can just unfuse, and we’ll be back to normal!_

“Yep. But why exactly did it happen in the first place?”

_Well… Okay, I’m not Alphys, but here’s what I think happened. Maybe… Your body just couldn’t compensate with all the new magical energy surging through you, and it changed into some kind of monster to adapt? Human bodies were never really all that good with exposure to extreme amounts of magic. And I’m a boss monster, with a SOUL made out of a Spark, made out of DETERMINATION!_

“Sounds kinda weird when you say it like that…”

_Heh… Well, if you want to take a look at our new self… There should be a mirror somewhere around here._

With a nod, Frisk ran out of the Throne Room, and into the outer walls of the castle. Frisk gazed over a balcony, and found that she was in none other than New Home, the sprawling city covered in buildings of grey stone. Down in the streets, she saw a few stray monsters roaming, some talking to one another. After a quick look, she proceeded to head out of the castle grounds.

After leaving the castle, she found herself in one of the many streets. If there was any way to describe the atmosphere of the place, it was strangely hopeful. The monsters had spent who knows how long down here, and there didn’t seem to be a way out. But they stayed hopeful. They knew that their beloved king would pull through, someone, someday, would find a way to break the barrier. And when that day came, they would all be free.

The thought of every monster’s hopes and dreams of freedom… It filled Frisk with DETERMINATION.

After a few more seconds of walking, Frisk walked past a full length window, to what seemed like some sort of book store. She gazed into the tidy little shop, and then saw her reflection in the mirror.

For one, her face looked more mature, like she had aged three or four years. Her hair was much longer than usual, her average bowl haircut having grown out past her shoulders, and turned white, much like the fur on her arms. Her cheeks were lined with two, thick black marks each, much like the God of Hyperdeath. The rest of her body matched her arms, matured, lean, and covered in goat fur. She even noticed the two horns developing on her head, and her ears… They looked like a mixture of a regular human’s ears and Asriel’s. Her regular striped shirt and shorts looked surprisingly small on her.

She backed away from the window, frowning. Oh my god, are those FANGS? She thought to herself.

_Wow… Uhh…_ Said Asriel. _You look kind of like if we had a baby, and that baby aged about 15 years fast…_

“Thanks for the information…” replied Frisk.

_Oh, wait! You look more like some kind of goat werewolf!_

“You’re not exactly helping…”

Frisk continued to gaze at her reflection in strange fascination. Did she really become… This? It wasn’t really that bad, and to be honest she always wondered what she’d look like if she was a goat monster like Asriel… But in this way?

* uh hey, ma’am? you’re doin’ a lotta frowning. you got something against books?

Frisk heard a familiar, yet childish voice behind her. She turned around, and saw a familiar face.

* to be honest, i never really liked much of those books anyway. the magazines in there have issues.


	12. Skelekids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW it's been a while. Unfortunately school is getting in the way of the fanfics, but I'll try to post as much as I can!

Frisk couldn’t believe her eyes.

Standing in front of her was none other than Sans himself. Except he looked no older than she was. Granted, he seemed to be only slightly shorter than he really was, and seemed to be missing a tooth. Instead of his usual jacket and track pants, he was wearing a simple blue shirt and some shorts. He also wore some little sneakers, which Frisk and Asriel both agreed were adorable.

* so uhh… What are you doing around here anyway? the young skeleton said. * don’t think i’ve ever seen you around here before.

Frisk didn’t really know what to say. Would Sans find out she wasn’t telling the truth about herself, or did he actually remember her? She never really understood how Sans could remember the LOADs, but the idea of a young Sans just saying “Sup kiddo” to her was unnerving.

_I have a feeling he won’t know who we are._ Said Asriel. _Just… Make something up!_

“You probably wouldn’t have,” Frisk replied, “I don’t get out very much.”

* alright. say, what’re you doing at the bookstore anyway?

“Uhhh… Browsing!”

* window shopping, huh? well too bad this place ain’t a window store. if you ask me, finding one down in this city is a real pane. Frisk began to snigger from the pun. * anyway, i came here to get some books for my dad, real big on science.

“Your dad?” Now Frisk and Asriel were interested. They didn’t even know Sans and Papyrus even had a father. Whenever one of them asked Papyrus, he just said he never really knew them very much, and couldn’t remember. Sans just said that he spent a lot of time away, and would then shift the story into something else.

Sans nodded. * yeah, my dad. pretty sure you might have heard of him.

“… I don’t think I have.”

* alright, i’ll give you a hint. built the core.

 “Wait… Wait a sec.” Frisk began to think, and then spoke quietly to herself. “Hey, Azzy? Have you ever seen a… Grey door in waterfall before? Or maybe some monochrome monsters?”

_Not really, no. Why?_ replied Asriel, in the depths of Frisk’s mind.

“I think I know who Sans is talking about…”

Sans spoke up. * uh, you okay there ma’am? got someone with you?

“Oh! No, I was just talking to myself.” Frisk nervously smiled. “And I think I know who he is… I just don’t know his name.”

* heh, well if you don’t get out much then you probably wouldn’t. also, you’ve got a nice smile. the fangs really make it stand out.

_I have FANGS?_ Frisk thought to herself.

* anyway, my dad’s dr w.d gaster. brilliant mind that invented the core, royal scientist, general role model, all that. he’s really cool.

“Wow… Would be cool to meet him!”

* yep. just about everyone knows him, and he also knows almost everyone here.

“He does?”

* yep. literally, too. he’s the royal scientist, of course he’d be allowed to see the civilian lists.

_Oh! I remember!_ Said Asriel, _Dad always had a big list of all the monsters that were stuck underground, we could just ask if we could see it, and also ask for the name of that monster! We… Kinda know what he looks like, right?_

“I guess?” replied Frisk, quietly. “Wait… If Asgore had a list like that, why didn’t we just…?” At that moment, Frisk felt rather stupid.

* uh… anyway, i don’t think i introduced myself to you. i’m sans. sans the skeleton.

“Oh! Well my name is… Asrisk. Yeah.” Frisk was really going to have to have a serious talk with Asriel about naming when this was all said and done.

* huh. alright then. you supposed to be somewhere, miss asrisk?

“Yeah actually, I’m looking for a person.”

* oh hey, you are? cool. Who?

“I uhhh… I think they’re… Uh…” Frisk racked her brains for an excuse, she didn’t really know what The Storm actually looked like underneath all the big, red, angry wind and lightning. “Maybe a boss monster?”

* that’s a little weird. there’s no other boss monsters down here other than the king and queen, i think. well, actually the queen gave birth to their son a few days ago, so… is that the guy you’re looking for?

_This SAVE file was only a few days after I was born?!_ said Asriel.

“No, not really. I think he’s a lot older. Maybe… Some guy looking a lot like the king?”

* okay then. hey, why are you looking for that man in the first place, anyway? is he your father?

Suddenly, Frisk got an idea. “I think so?” she said, “I hit my head looking for him… I forgot all about him, I’ve been trying to find him for ages!”

Sans’ permanent grin didn’t falter from his face, but he looked sad. * gee, ma’am, that sounds awful. hey, if you want i could bring you to my dad, i think he could help with your memory loss and stuff, might even be able to show you a bunch of other monsters down here too.

Frisk grinned, and nodded. “Sure! I’d love that!”

* alright. my dad’s a pretty nice guy, i’m sure he’ll be okay with a stranger over. I just gotta get the books though.

Frisk nodded as Sans walked into the book store. A few minutes later, he came back with an armful of physics and chemistry books. He gestured for Frisk to follow him, and she did.

After a brief walk, the two reached a small, cosy looking whitewashed house. It seemed this was before Sans and Papyrus moved to Snowdin. * welp, this is my house. He then moved up to the door, and knocked. * knock knock.

A young, yet loud voice called out through the door. “WHO’S THERE?”

* sans.

“I ALREADY KNOW WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN, BROTHER… SANS ‘WHO?’”

* c’mon pap, how could you forget your own bro?

There was a loud groan, and the door opened, revealing a very, VERY young looking Papyrus. He looked just like… Well, Papyrus, but he seemed about five or six years old. He was dressed in a small red sweater, and some leathery, brown jeans. “HELLO SANS!” he said, still as loud as he was in the present, “AND HELLO… UM… PERSON! HOW VERY NICE TO MEET YOU!”

_Oh my god! Baby Papyrus is adorable! How were they this cute?!_ Asriel was practically squeeing at the little skeleton. As much as she loved her brother, she wished there was a mute button in her mind. Frisk just gave a smile and a small wave.

* pap, this is miss asrisk. she hit her head while looking for her dad, can’t remember him

Papyrus gasped. “THAT’S TERRIBLE! IF I LOST MY OWN DADDY, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’D DO. BUT FEAR NOT, MISS ASRISK! THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL ASSIST YOU! AND BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, I MEAN MY DAD. NYEH-HEH!” He then ran off to another part of the house. Turns out Papyrus in the past was no different than Papyrus from the present.

* isn’t my little brother awesome? Asked Sans. Frisk gave him a thumbs up.

A few seconds later, Papyrus came back, along with another skeleton. This one was unlike any others that Frisk had seen. His skull seemed more like a large mask, with no real signs of multiple bones forming it, or a place where a nose would be. He was very tall, dressed in a dull brown turtleneck jacket underneath a white lab coat. His hands seemed to have gaping holes in the middle of the palms. He looked towards Frisk, and smiled.

“Greetings,” he said, “Papyrus said that you are looking for someone, correct?”

What struck Frisk as odd was that she could have sworn that his very image would flicker in and out of reality every now and then, and that there was a strange noise… Some sort of static, when he talked.

_So that’s W.D Gaster, huh?_ Asked Asriel. _I still don’t know why Sans and Papyrus talk about him though…_

Frisk, on the other hand, very much knew why.


End file.
